UC-NRLF 


LIES 


E  UL  O  G Y 


ON 


L.AFAYETTE, 


DELIVERED    IN   FANEUIL    HALL, 


AT  THE  REQUEST  OF  THE  YOUNG  MEN  OF  BOSTON, 


SEPTEMBER  6,  1834, 


BY  EDWARD  EVERETT. 


BOSTON: 
NATHAN  HALE ;  AND  ALLEN  &  TICKNOR. 

1834. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1834, 

By  NATHAN  HALE, 
in  the  Clerk'^  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  Massachusetts. 


JOSEPH    H.    LOW,    PR1NTEK. 


BOSTON,  SEPT.  6, 

HON.  EDWARD  EVERETT  : 

SIR, — The  subscribers  are  directed  by  the  Young  Men's  Committee 
of  Arrangements  for  rendering  Honors  to  the  Memory  of  LAFAYETTE, 
to  present  you  the  thanks  of  the  Committee  and  their  constituents,  for  the 
eloquent  Eulogy  you  have  this  day  pronounced,  in  their  behalf,  on  the 
virtues  of  the  truly  great  man  whose  decease  they  have  commemorated, 
and  to  request  you  to  furnish  them  a  copy  for  the  Press. 

Permit  us,  Sir,  to  offer  you  individually,  the  assurance  of  our  high 
respect,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Young  Men  of  Boston,  to  subscribe  our 
selves  your  obedient  servants, 

L.  M.  WALTER, 
E.  G.  AUSTIN, 
BENJAMIN  F.  HALLETT, 
JOHN  CODMAN, 
ISAAC  McLELLAN,  JR. 


M138679 


NOTE. — In  preparing  the  following  Eulogy  for  the  press,  some  topics? 
have  been  introduced  and  others  treated  more  at  length,  which,  on  the 
delivery,  were  either  wholly  omitted  or  briefly  alluded  to.  To  avoid  the 
necessity  of  frequent  marginal  references,  1  would  observe,  that  the  account 
of  Lafayette's  first  visit  to  America  is  chiefly  taken  from  a  very  interesting 
article,  on  that  subject,  communicated  by  Mr.  Sparks  to  the  Boston  Daily 
Advertiser  of  26th  June  1834,  from  his  edition  of  Washington's  Works, 
now  in  the  press.  Among  the  other  authorities  which  1  have  consulted, 
are  the  well  known  work  of  Sarrans,  the  Memoirs  of  Lafayette  and  the 
Constitutional  Assembly  by  Regnault-Warin,  Montgaillard's  History  of 
France  from  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI.  to  the  year  1825,  and 
Mr.  Ticknor's  beautiful  Sketch  of  the  Life  of  Lafayette,  originally  publish 
ed  in  the  North  American  Review.  But  I  owe  a  more  particular  acknowl 
edgment  to  Mr.  Sparks,  who  .not  only  furnished  me  with  the  sheets  of 
those  parts  of  the  unpublished  volumes  of  Washington's  Works,  which 
throw  light  on  the  military  services  of  Lafayette  in  the  war  of  the  Ameri 
can  Revolution,  but  placed  in  my  hands  a  great  mass  of  original  papers  of 
the  highest  interest  and  value,  relating  to  the  career  of  Lafayette,  and 
furnished  to  Mr.  Sparks  by  the  General  himself,  from  his  own  collections 
and  the  public  offices  at  Paris.  These  papers  contain  the  Correspondence 
of  Lafayette  with  Washington,  from  the  year  1778  to  his  death  ;  his  Cor 
respondence  and  Notes  of  his  conferences  with  the  Count  de  Vergennes 
and  other  French  ministers ;  his  Correspondence  with  his  family  and 
friends  from  America  and  from  his  prisons  in  Germany  ;  Notes  and  Com 
mentaries  on  the  most  important  incidents  of  his  life;  his  Correspondence 
with  the  Governor  of  Virginia  and  officers  of  the  Army,  especially  during 
the  campaign  of  1781,  and  miscellaneous  papers  bearing  on  the  main  sub 
ject.  They  form  altogether  ample  materials  for  a  History  of  the  Life  and 
Services  of  Lafayette ;  a  work  which  no  one  is  so  well  qualified  as  Mr. 
Sparks  to  execute,  and  which  it  is  greatly  to  be  wished  he  might  be  induc 
ed  to  undertake. 


EULOGY. 


WHEN  I  look  round  upon  this  vast  audience, — 
when  I  reflect  upon  the  deep  interest  manifested  by 
so  many  intelligent  persons  in  the  occasion,  which 
has  called  us  together, — when  I  consider  the  variety, 
the  importance,  and  singularity  of  the  events,  which 
must  pass  in  review  before  us,  and  the  extraordinary 
character  of  the  man  whom  we  commemorate, — his 
connection  with  Europe  and  America,  in  the  most 
critical  periods  of  their  history, — his  intercourse  in 
both  hemispheres  with  the  master  spirits  of  the  age, 
— his  auspicious,  long  protracted,  and  glorious  career, 
alternating  with  fearful  rapidity  from  one  extreme  of 
fortune  to  the  other, — and  when  I  feel  that  I  am  ex 
pected,  by  the  great  multitude  I  have  the  honor  to 
address, — the  flower  of  this  metropolis, — to  say 
something  not  inappropriate  to  such  an  occasion  nor 
wholly  beneath  the  theme,  I  am  oppressed  with  the 
weight  of  the  duty  I  am  to  perform.  I  know  not 
how,  in  the  brief  space  allotted  to  me,  to  take  up 


and  dispose  of  a  subject  so  vast  and  comprehensive. 
I  feel  it  to  be  an  arduous,  I  had  almost  said  a  pre 
sumptuous  effort,  to  attempt  to  dismiss,  in  a  few 
sentences,  the  interest  of  a  mighty  career  of  useful 
ness, — the  riches  of  a  long  life, —  and  the  glory  of  a 
great  and  a  pure  name.  I  would  even  now,  were  it 
possible,  retire  from  the  undertaking  ;  and  leave  to 
your  own  hearts,  borne  upwards  with  the  swelling 
strains  of  yonder  choir, — whose  pious  and  plaintive 
melody  is  just  dying  on  the  ear, — to  muse,  in  ex 
pressive  silence,  the  praise  of  him  we  celebrate.  But 
since  this  may  not  be, — since  the  duty  devolved  upon 
me  must,  however  feebly,  be  discharged, — let  me, 
like  the  illustrious  subject  of  our  contemplation, 
gather  strength  from  the  magnitude  of  the  task.  Let 
me  calmly  trace  him  through  those  lofty  and  perilous 
paths  of  duty,  which  he  trod  with  serenity,  while 
empires  were  toppling  round  him  ; — and,  trampling 
under  foot  the  arts  of  the  rhetorician,  as  he  tramp 
led  under  foot  all  the  bribes  of  vanity,  avarice,  and 
ambition,  and  all  the  delights  of  life,  let  me,  in  the 
plainness  of  history  and  the  boldness  of  truth,  not 
wholly  uncongenial  to  the  character  of  the  man  I 
would  reproduce  to  your  admiration  and  love, — dis 
charge  as  I  may,  the  great  duty,  which  your  favor  has 
assigned  to  me. 

There  is,  at  every  great  era  of  the  history  of  the 
world,  a  Leading  Principle,  which  gives  direction  to 
the  fortunes  of  nations  and  the  characters  of  distin 
guished  men.  This  principle,  in  our  own  time,  is 
that  of  the  action  and  reaction  upon  each  other  of 


Europe  and  America,  for  the  advancement  of  free 
institutions  and  the  promotion  of  rational  liberty. 
Since  the  discovery  of  America,  this  principle  has 
been  in  operation,  but  naturally  and  necessarily  with 
vastly  increased  energy,  since  the  growth  of  an  in 
telligent  population,  this  side  the  water.  For  the 
formation  of  a  man  of  truly  great  character,  it  is  ne 
cessary  that  he  should  be  endowed  with  qualities  to 
win  respect  and  love  ; — that  he  should  be  placed  in 
circumstances,  favorable  to  a  powerful  action  on  soci 
ety  ; — and  then,  that  with  a  pure  affection,  a  strong, 
disinterested,  glowing  zeal, — a  holy  ambition  of  phi 
lanthropy, — he  should  devote  himself  to  the  governing 
principle  of  the  age.  Such  a  combination,  humanly 
speaking,  produces  the  nearest  approach  to  perfection 
which  the  sphere  of  man  admits.  Of  such  characters 
the  American  Revolution  was  more  than  commonly 
fertile,  for  it  was  the  very  crisis  of  that  action  and 
reaction,  which  is  the  vocation  of  the  age.  Such  a 
character  was  Washington  ;  such  was  Lafayette. 

LAFAYETTE  was  born  at  Chavaniac,  in  the  ancient 
province  of  Auvergne,  in  France,  on  the  sixth  day  of 
September  1757,  seventy-seven  years  ago  this  day. 
His  family  was  one  of  the  most  ancient  in  the  country, 
and  of  the  highest  rank  in  the  French  nobility.  As 
far  back  as  the  fifteenth  century  one  of  his  ancestors, 
a  marshal  of  France,  was  distinguished  for  his  mili 
tary  achievements ; — his  uncle  fell  in  the  wars  of  Italy 
in  the  middle  of  the  last  century ; — and  his  father  lost 
his  life  in  the  seven  years'  war,  at  the  battle  of  Min- 


den.  His  mother  died  soon  after,  and  he  was  thus 
left  an  orphan,  at  an  early  age,  the  heir  of  an  im 
mense  estate,  and  exposed  to  all  the  dangers  inci 
dent  to  youth,  rank,  and  fortune,  in  the  gayest  and 
most  luxurious  city  on  earth,  at  the  period  of  its 
greatest  corruption.  He  escaped  unhurt.  Having 
completed  the  usual  academical  course,  at  the  College 
of  Duplessis  in  Paris,  he  married,  at  the  age  of  six 
teen,  the  daughter  of  the  Duke  d'  Ayen,  of  the  family 
of  Noailles, — somewhat  younger  than  himself; — and 
at  all  times  the  noble  encourager  of  his  virtues, — the 
heroic  partner  of  his  sufferings, — the  worthy  sharer 
of  his  great  name  and  of  his  honorable  grave. 

The  family  to  which  he  thus  became  allied  was 
then,  and  for  fifty  years  had  been,  in  the  highest 
favor  at  the  French  court.  Himself  the  youthful  heir 
of  one  of  the  oldest  and^  richest  houses  in  France, 
the  path  of  advancement  was  open  before7 him.  He 
was  offered  a  brilliant  place  in  the  royal  household. 
At  an  age  and  in  a  situation  most  likely  to  be  caught 
by  the  attraction,  he  declined  the  proffered  distinc 
tion,  impatient  of  the  attendance  at  court  which  it  re 
quired.  He  felt,  from  his  earliest  years,  that  he  was 
not  born  to  loiter  in  an  ante-chamber.  The  senti 
ment  of  liberty  was  already  awakened  in  his  bosom. 
Having,  while  yet  at  college,  been  required,  as  an 
exercise  in  composition,  to  describe  the  well  trained 
charger,  obedient  even  to  the  shadow  of  the  whip ;  he 
represented  the  noble  animal,  on  the  contrary,  as  rear 
ing  at  the  sight  of  it,  and  throwing  his  rider.  With 
this  feeling,  the  profession  of  arms  was,  of  course. 


the  most  congenial  to  him ;  and  was,  in  fact,  with 
the  exception  of  that  of  courtier,  the  only  one  open 
to  a  young  French  nobleman,  before  the  Revolu 
tion. 

In  the  summer  of  1776,  and  just  after  the  Ameri 
can  Declaration  of  Independence,  Lafayette  was  sta 
tioned  at  Metz,  a  garrisoned  town  on  the  road  from 
Paris  to  the  German  frontier,  with  the  regiment  to 
which  he  was  attached,  as  a  captain  of  dragoons,  not 
then  nineteen  years  of  age.  The  Duke  of  Glou 
cester,  the  brother  of  the  King  of  England,  happened 
to  be  on  a  visit  to  Metz,  and  a  dinner  was  given  to 
him,  by  the  commandant  of  the  garrison.  Lafayette 
was  invited,  with  other  officers,  to  the  entertainment. 
Despatches  had  just  been  received  by  the  Duke  from 
England,  relating  to  American  affairs, — the  resistance 
of  the  colonists,  and  the  strong  measures  adopted  by 
the  ministers  to  crush  the  rebellion.  Among  the 
details  stated  by  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  was  the  ex 
traordinary  fact,  that  these  remote,  scattered,  and 
unprotected  settlers  of  the  wilderness  had  solemnly 
declared  themselves  an  Independent  People.  That 
word  decided  the  fortunes  of  the  enthusiastic  listener; 
and  not  more  distinctly  was  the  great  Declaration  a 
charter  of  political  liberty  to  the  rising  states,  than  it 
was  a  commission  to  their  youthful  champion  to  de 
vote  his  life  to  the  sacred  cause. 

The  details  which  he  heard  were  new  to  him. 
The  American  contest  was  known  to  him  before,  but 
as  a  rebellion, — a  tumultuary  affair  in  a  remote  trans 
atlantic  colony.  He  now,  with  a  promptness  of  per- 


10 

ception,  which  even  at  this  distance  of  time,  strikes 
us  as  little  less  than  miraculous,  addressed  a  multi 
tude  of  enquiries  to  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  on  the 
subject  of  the  contest.  His  imagination  was  kindled 
at  the  idea  of  a  civilized  people  struggling  for  politi 
cal  liberty.  His  heart  was  warmed  with  the  possi 
bility  of  drawing  his  sword  in  a  good  cause.  Before 
he  left  the  table,  his  course  was  mentally  resolved 
on  ;  and  the  brother  of  the  King  of  England,  (un 
consciously  no  doubt),  had  the  singular  fortune  to 
enlist,  from  the  French  court  and  the  French  army, 
this  gallant  and  fortunate  champion  in  the  then  un 
promising  cause  of  the  Colonial  Congress. 

He  immediately  repaired  to  Paris,  to  make  further 
enquiries  and  arrangements,  toward  the  execution  of 
his  great  plan.  He  confided  it  to  two  young  friends, 
officers  like  himself,  the  Count  Segur  and  Viscount 
de  Noailles,  and  proposed  to  them  to  join  him.  They 
shared  his  enthusiasm  and  determined  to  accompa 
ny  him,  but  on  consulting  their  families,  they  were 
refused  permission.  But  they  faithfully  kept  Lafay 
ette's  secret.  Happily,  shall  I  say,  he  was  an  or 
phan, — independent  of  control,  and  master  of  his  own 
fortune,  amounting  to  near  forty  thousand  dollars  per 
annum. 

He  next  opened  his  heart  to  the  Count  de  Broglie, 
a  marshal  in  the  French  army.  To  the  experienced 
warrior,  accustomed  to  the  regular  campaigns  of  Eu 
ropean  service,  the  project  seemed  rash  and  quixotic, 
and  one  that  he  could  not  countenance.  Lafayette 
begged  the  Count  at  least  not  to  betray  him ; — as  he 


11 

was  resolved,  (notwithstanding  his  disapproval  of  the 
project,)  to  go  to  America.  This  the  Count  promis 
ed,  adding,  however,  '  1  saw  your  uncle  fall  in  Italy, 
and  I  witnessed  your  father's  death,  at  the  battle  of 
Minden,  and  I  will  not  be  accessary  to  the  ruin  of 
the  only  remaining  branch  of  the  family.'  He  then 
used  all  the  powers  of  argument  which  his  age  and 
experience  suggested  to  him,  to  dissuade  Lafayette 
from  the  enterprise,  but  in  vain.  Finding  his  deter 
mination  unalterable,  he  made  him  acquainted  with 
the  Baron  de  Kalb,  who, — the  Count  knew, — was 
about  to  embark  for  America  ; — an  officer  of  experi 
ence  and  merit,  who,  as  is  well  known,  fell  at  the 
battle  of  Camden. 

The  Baron  de  Kalb  introduced  Lafayette  to  Silas 
Deane,  then  agent  of  the  United  States  in  France, 
who  explained  to  him  the  state  of  affairs  in  America, 
and  encouraged  him  in  his  project.  Dearie  was  but 
imperfectly  acquainted  with  the  French  language, 
and  of  manners  somewhat  repulsive.  A  less  enthu 
siastic  temper  than  that  of  Lafayette  might  Lave 
been  somewhat  chilled,  by  the  style  of  his  intercourse. 
He  had  as  yet  not  been  acknowledged,  in  any  public 
capacity ;  and  was  beset  by  the  spies  of  the  British 
ambassador.  For  these  reasons,  it  was  judged  expedi 
ent,  that  the  visit  of  Lafayette  should  not  be  repeat 
ed,  and  their  further  negotiations  were  conducted 
through  the  intervention  of  Mr.  Carmichael,  an 
American  gentleman,  at  that  time  in  Paris.  The 
arrangement  was  at  length  concluded,  in  virtue  of 
which  Deane  took  upon  himself,  without  authority, 


but  by  a  happy  exercise  of  discretion,  to  engage 
Lafayette  to  enter  the  American  service,  with  the 
rank  of  Major  General.  A  vessel  was  about  to  be 
despatched  with  arms  and  other  supplies  for  the 
American  army,  and  in  this  vessel  it  was  settled  that 
he  should  take  passage. 

At  this  juncture,  the  news  reached  France  of  the 
evacuation  of  New- York,  the  loss  of  Fort  Washing- 
ton,  the  calamitous  retreat  through  New-Jersey,  and 
the  other  disasters  of  the  campaign  of  1776,  The 
friends  of  America  in  France  were  in  despair.  The 
tidings,  bad  in  themselves,  were  greatly  exaggerated 
in  the  British  gazettes.  The  plan  of  sending  an 
armed  vessel  with  munitions,  was  abandoned*  The 
cause,  always  doubtful,  was  now  pronounced  desper 
ate  ;  and  Lafayette  was  urged  by  all  who  were  privv  to 
his  project,  to  give  up  an  enterprise  so  wild  and  hope 
less.  Even  our  commissioners  (for  Deane  had  been 
joined  by  Dr.  Franklin  and  Arthur  Lee,)  told  him 
they  could  not  in  conscience  urge  him  to  proceed. 
His  answer  was,  '  My  zeal  and  love  of  liberty  have 
perhaps  hitherto  been  the  prevailing  motive  with  me, 
but  now  I  see  a  chance  of  usefulness  which  I  had 
not  anticipated.  These  supplies  I  know  are  greatly 
wanted  by  Congress.  I  have  money  ;  I  will  purchase 
a  vessel  to  convey  them  to  America,  and  in  this  ves 
sel  my  companions  and  myself  will  take  passage.' 

Yes,  Fellow-citizens,  that  I  may  repeat  an  excla 
mation,  uttered  ten  years  ago  by  him  wh&  has  now 
the  honor  to  address  you,  in  the  presence  of  an 
immense  multitude,  who  welcomed  '  the  Nation's 


13 

Guest'  to  the  academic  shades  of  Harvard,  and  by 
them  received  with  acclamations  of  approval  and  tears 
of  gratitude  ; — when  he  was  told  by  our  commission 
er^ — <  that  they  did  not  possess  the  means  nor  the 
credit  of  procuring  a  single  vessel  in  all  the  ports  of 
France,  then,  exclaimed  the  gallant  and  generous 
youth,  *  1  will  provide  my  own  ;'  and  it  is  a  literal 
fact,  that  when  our  beloved  country  was  too  poor  to 
offer  him  so  much  as  a  passage  to  her  shores,  he  left, 
in  his  tender  youth,  the  bosom  of  home,  of  happiness, 
of  wealth,  and  of  rank,  to  plunge  in  the  dust  and 
blood  of  our  inauspicious  struggle. 

In  pursuance  of  the  generous  purpose  thus  con 
ceived,  the  secretary  of  the  Count  de  Broglie  was 
employed  by  Lafayette,  to  purchase  and  fit  out  a  ves 
sel  at  Bordeaux ;  and  while  these  preparations  were 
in  train,  with  a  view  of  averting  suspicion  from  his 
movements,  and  passing  the  tedious  interval  of  delay, 
he  made  a  visit  with  a  relative,  to  his  kinsman,  the 
Marquis  de  Noailles,  then  the  French  ambassador  in 
London.  During  their  stay  in  Great  Britain,  they 
were  treated  with  kindness  by  the  King  and  persons 
of  rank  ;  but  having,  after  a  lapse  of  three  weeks, 
learned  that  his  vessel  was  ready  at  Bordeaux,  Lafay 
ette  suddenly  returned  to  France.  This  visit  was  of 
service  to  the  youthful  adventurer,  in  furnishing  him 
an  opportunity  to  improve  himself  in  the  English  lan 
guage  ;  but  beyond  this,  a  nice  sense  of  honor  forbade 
him  from  making  use  of  the  opportunity,  which  it 
afforded,  for  obtaining  military  information,  that 
could  be  of  utility  to  the  American  army.  So  far 


14 

did  he  carry  this  scruple,  that  he  declined  visiting  the 
naval  establishment  at  Portsmouth. 

On  his  return  to  France,  he  did  not  even  visit 
Paris  ; — but  after  three  days  passed  at  Passy,  the 
residence  of  Dr.  Franklin,  he  hastened  to  Bordeaux. 
Arrived  at  this  place,  he  found  that  his  vessel  was 
not  yet  ready;  and  had  the  still  greater  mortification 
to  learn,  that  the  spies  of  the  British  ambassador  had 
penetrated  his  designs,  and  made  them  known  to  the 
family  of  Lafayette,  and  to  the  King,  from  whom  an 
order  for  his  arrest  was  daily  expected.  Unprepared 
as  his  ship  was,  he  instantly  sailed  in  her  to  Passage, 
the  nearest  port  in  Spain,  where  he  proposed  to  wait 
for  the  vessel's  papers.  Scarcely  had  he  arrived  in 
that  harbor,  when  he  was  encountered  by  two  offi 
cers,  with  letters  from  his  family,  and  from  the  min 
isters,  and  a  royal  order  directing  him  to  join  his 
father-in-law  at  Marseilles.  The  letters  from  the 
ministers,  reprimanded  him  for  violating  his  oath  of 
allegiance,  and  failing  in  his  duty  to  his  King.  Lafay 
ette,  in  some  of  his  letters  to  his  friends  about  court, 
replied  to  this  remark,  that  the  ministers  might  chide 
him  with  failing  in  his  duty  to  the  King  when  they 
learned  to  discharge  theirs  to  the  people.  His  fami 
ly  censured  him  for  his  desertion  of  his  domestic 
duties  ; — but  his  heroic  wife,  instead  of  joining  in  the 
reproach,  shared  his  enthusiasm  and  encouraged  his 
enterprise.  He  was  obliged  to  return  with  the 
officers  to  Bordeaux,  and  report  himself  to  the  com 
mandant.  While  there,  and  engaged  in  communica 
ting  with  his  family  and  the  Court,  in  explanation 


15 

and  defence  of  his  conduct,  he  learned  from  a  friend 
at  Paris,  that  a  positive  prohibition  of  his  departure 
might  be  expected  from  the  King.  No  farther  time 
was  to  be  lost,  and  no  middle  course  pursued.  He 
feigned  a  willingness  to  yield  to  the  wishes  of  his 
family,  and  started  as  for  Marseilles,  with  one  of  the 
officers  who  was  to  accompany  him  to  America. 
Scarcely  had  they  left  the  city  of  Bordeaux,  when  he 
assumed  the  dress  of  a  courier,  mounted  a  horse,  and 
rode  forward  to  procure  relays.  They  soon  quitted 
the  road  to  Marseilles,  and  struck  into  that  which 
le*ads  to  Spain.  On  reaching  Bayonne,  they  were 
detained  two  or  three  hours.  While  the  companion 
of  Lafayette  was  employed  in  some  important  com 
mission  in  the  city,  he  himself  lay  on  the  straw  in 
the  stable.  At  St.  Jean  de  Luz,  he  was  recognized 
by  the  daughter  of  the  person  who  kept  the  post 
house  ; — she  had  observed  him  a  few  days  before, 
as  he  passed  from  Spain  to  Bordeaux.  Perceiving 
that  he  was  discovered,  and  not  daring  to  speak  to 
her,  he  made  her  a  signal  to  keep  silence.  She  com 
plied  with  the  intimation  ;  and  when,  shortly  after  he 
had  passed  on,  his  pursuers  came  up,  she  gave  them  an 
answer,  which  baffled  their  penetration,  and  enabled 
Lafayette  to  escape  into  Spain.  He  was  instantly 
on  board  his  ship  and  at  sea,  with  eleven  officers  in 
his  train. 

It  would  take  me  beyond  the  limits  of  the  occasion, 
to  repeat  the  various  casualties  and  exposures  of  his 
passage,  which  lasted  sixty  days.  His  vessel  had 
cleared  out  for  the  West  Indies,  but  Lafayette  directed 


16 

the  Captain  to  steer  for  the  United  States,  which,  es 
pecially  as  he  had  a  large  pecuniary  adventure  of  his 
own  on  board,  he  declined  doing.  By  threats  to 
remove  him  from  his  command  and  promises  to 
indemnify  him  for  the  loss  of  his  property,  should  they 
be  captured,  Lafayette  prevailed  upon  the  Captain  to 
steer  his  course  for  the  American  coast,  where  at 
last  they  happily  arrived,  having  narrowly  escaped  two 
British  vessels  of  war,  which  were  cruising  in  that 
quarter.  They  made  the  coast  near  Georgetown, 
South  Carolina.  It  was  late  in  the  day  before  they 
could  approach  so  near  land  as  to  leave  the  vessel. 
Anxious  to  tread  the  American  soil,  Lafayette,  with 
some  of  his  fellow  officers,  entered  the  ship's  boat  and 
was  rowed  at  nightfall  to  shore.  A  distant  light 
guided  them  in  their  landing  and  advance  into  the 
country.  Arriving  near  the  house  from  which  the 
light  proceeded,  an  alarm  was  given  by  the  watch 
dogs,  and  they  were  mistaken  by  those  within  for  a 
marauding  party,  from  the  enemy's  vessels  hovering 
on  the  coast.  The  Baron  de  Kalb,  however,  had  a 
good  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  acquired 
on  a  previous  visit  to  America,  and  was  soon  able  to 
make  known  who  they  were  and  what  was  their  er 
rand.  On  this  they  were  of  course  readily  admitted 
and  cordially  welcomed.  The  house,  in  which  they 
found  themselves,  was  that  of  Major  Huger,  a  citi 
zen  of  worth,  hospitality,  and  patriotism,  by  whom 
every  good  office  was  performed  to  the  adventurous 
strangers.  He  provided  the  next  day  the  means  of 
conveying  Lafayette  and  his  companions  to  Charles- 


17 

ton,  where  they  were  received  with  enthusiasm  by  the 
magistrates  and  the  people. 

As  soon  as  possible,  they  proceeded  by  land  to 
Philadelphia.  On  his  arrival  there,  with  the  eager 
ness  of  a  youth  anxious  to  be  employed  upon  his 
errand,  he  sent  his  letters  to  our  townsman,  Mr.  Lov- 
ell,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  foreign  relations. 
He  called  the  next  day  at  the  hall  of  Congress,  and 
asked  to  see  this  gentleman.  Mr.  Lovell  came  out 
to  him, — stated  that  so  many  foreigners  offered  them 
selves  for  employment,  in  the  American  army,  that 
Congress  was  greatly  embarrassed  to  find  them  com 
mands, — that  the  finances  of  the  country  required 
the  most  rigid  economy ;  and  that  he  feared,  in  the 
present  case,  there  was  little  hope  of  success.  La 
fayette  perceived  that  the  worthy  chairman  had 
made  up  his  report,  without  looking  at  the  papers; — 
he  explained  to  him  that  his  application,  if  granted, 
would  lay  no  burden  upon  the  finances  of  Congress, 
and  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President,  in  which  he 
expressed  a  wish  to  enter  the  American  army,  on  the 
condition  of  serving  without  pay  or  emolument,  and 
on  the  footing  of  a  volunteer.  These  conditions  re 
moved  the  chief  obstacles  alluded  to,  in  reference  to 
the  appointment  of  foreign  officers ; — the  letters 
brought  by  Lafayette  made  known  to  Congress  his 
high  connections  and  his  large  means  of  usefulness, 
and  without  an  hour's  delay  he  received  from  them  a 
commission  of  Major  General  in  the  American  army, 
a  month  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age. 

A  month  before  he  is  twenty  years  of  age,  he  is 

c 


18 

thought  worthy  by  that  august  body,  the  Revolutiona 
ry  Congress,  to  be  placed  in  the  highest  rank  of  those, 
to  whom  the  conduct  of  their  arms  was  entrusted  in 
this  hour  of  their  extremest  peril.  What  a  com 
mencement  of  life  !  None  of  the  golden  hours  of 
youth  wasted  on  its  worthless  but  tempting  vanities ; 
— none  of  those  precious  opportunities  are  lost  for 
him,  which,  once  lost,  neither  gold,  nor  tears,  nor 
blood  can  buy  back,  and  which  for  the  mass  of  men, 
are  lost,  irretrievably  and  forever  !  None  of  the 
joyous  days  of  youthful  vigor  exhausted  even  in  the 
praiseworthy  but  cheerless  vigils,  with  which,  in  the 
present  artificial  state  of  society,  it  is  too  often  the 
lot  of  advancing  merit  to  work  its  way  toilsomely  up 
the  steeps  of  usefulness  and  fame  ! — It  pleased  a  gra 
cious  Providence,  in  disposing  the  strange  and  various 
agency,  by  which  the  American  Independence  was 
to  be  established,  to  place  in  the  company  of  its 
defenders, — a  youthful  champion,  from  the  highest 
circle  of  the  gayest  court  of  Europe.  By  the  side  of 
Washington  from  his  broad  plantations, — of  Greene 
from  his  forge, — of  Stark  from  his  almost  pathless 
forests  and  granite  hills, — of  Putnam  from  his  hum 
ble  farm,  there  is  a  place,  at  the  war  council  of  the 
Revolution,  for  a  young  nobleman  from  France. 
He  is  raised  at  once  above  the  feverish  appetite  for 
advancement, — the  pest  of  affairs, — for  he  is  born  to 
the  highest  station  society  can  bestow.  He  comes 
from  the  bosom  of  the  domestic  endearments,  with 
which  he  has  surrounded  himself,  before  any  of  the 
accursed  poisons  of  pleasure  have  been  poured  into 


19 

his  heart ;  and  youth  as  he  is,  he  brings  the  chaste  and 
manly  virtues  of  the  husband  and  the  father  to  the 
virtuous  cause,  which  he  has  embraced.  The  posses 
sor  of  an  immense  estate,  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
mercenary  motives ;  and  is  enabled  even  to  confer 
favors  on  the  Congress  whose  confidence  he  receives. 

But  though  his  enterprise  is  one,  which  requires 
for  its  very  conception  a  rare  enthusiasm  ; — although, 
considering  his  position  at  home,  he  must  be  all  but 
a  madman  to  persevere  in  such  an  adventure  ;  yet 
the  nature  of  the  cause  to  which  he  consecrates  him 
self,  and  of  the  duties  which  he  undertakes  to  per 
form,  implies  a  gravity  of  character,  and  sound  judg 
ment  belonging  to  mature  years  and  long  experience ; 
and  that  gravity  and  good  judgment,  young  and  in 
experienced  as  he  is,  he  possesses  in  an  eminent  de 
gree.  To  succeed  in  the  undertaking,  he  seems  to 
need  qualities  of  character  not  merely  different  from 
those,  which  alone  could  prompt  him  to  embark  in 
it ;  but  he  must  have  the  opposite  and  contradictory 
qualities.  He  must  be  cool,  prudent,  and  consider 
ate,  at  the  very  moment  that  he  enters  a  career,  from 
which  every  cool,  prudent,  and  considerate  man 
would  have  dissuaded  him ; — and  arduous  as  it  is, 
he  enters  it  without  preparation  or  training. 

But  let.  him  enter  it,  the  noble  and  fortunate 
youth  ;  let  him  enter  it,  without  preparation  or  train 
ing  !  Great  as  the  work  is,  and  completely  as  he  is 
to  succeed  in  it,  it  is  itself  but  a  work  of  preparation. 
This  is  not  yet  the  province  of  duty  assigned  him. 
He  comes  without  training,  for  this  is  the  school,  in 


20 

which  he  is  to  be  trained.  He  comes  unprepared, 
because  he  comes  to  a  great  Preparation  of  Liberty. 
Destined,  when,  with  full  success  and  spotless  honor, 
he  shall  have  gone  through  the  American  Revolution, 
to  take  the  lead  in  a  mighty  work  of  political  reform  in 
his  native  land, — he  comes,  in  his  youth,  to  the  great 
monitorial  school  of  Freedom ; — to  imbibe  its  holy 
doctrines  from  an  authentic  source,  before  his  heart 
is  hardened  and  his  mind  perverted ;  to  catch  its  pure 
spirit, — living  and  uncorrupted, — from  the  lips  of  a 
pure  Master. 

Before  that  master  he  is  yet  to  appear.  The 
youthful  adventurer  has  a  test  of  character  at  hand 
more  severe,  than  any  to  wrhich  he  has  yet  been  sub 
jected.  He  has  stood  from  his  youth  before  princes 
and  kings,  and  felt  that  his  clay  was  as  good  as 
theirs.  But  he  has  yet  to  stand  before  that  face, 
where,  more  than  ever  yet  in  the  face  of  mere  man, 
the  awful  majesty  of  virtue  abode  in  visible  persona 
tion  :  the  serene  but  melancholy  countenance,  which 
no  smile  of  light-hearted  gladness  illuminated,  from 
the  commencement  to  the  close  of  his  country's 
struggle.  Washington  was  at  head-quarters  when 
Lafayette  reached  Philadelphia,  but  he  was  daily 
expected  in  the  city.  The  introduction  of  the  youth 
ful  stranger  to  the  man,  on  whom  his  career  depend 
ed,  was  therefore  delayed  a  few  days.  It  took  place 
in  a  manner  peculiarly  marked  with  the  circumspec 
tion  of  Washington,  at  a  dinner  party,  where  Lafay 
ette  was  one  among  several  guests  of  consideration, 
Washington  was  not  uninformed  of  the  circumstan- 


21 

ces  connected  with  his  arrival  in  the  country.  He 
knew  what  benefits  it  promised  the  cause,  if  his 
character  and  talents  were  adapted  to  the  course 
he  had  so  boldly  struck  out ;  and  he  knew  also 
how  much  it  was  to  be  feared,  that  the  very  qual 
ities,  which  had  prompted  him  to  embark  in  it, 
would  make  him  a  useless  and  even  a  dangerous 
auxiliary.  We  may  well  suppose,  that  the  piercing 
eye  of  the  father  of  his  country  was  not  idle  during 
the  repast.  But  that  searching  glance,  before  which 
pretence  or  fraud  never  stood  undetected,  was  com 
pletely  satisfied.  When  they  were  about  to  separate, 
Washington  took  Lafayette  aside, — spoke  to  him 
with  kindness, — paid  a  just  tribute  to  the  noble 
spirit  which  he  had  shown,  and  the  sacrifices  he  had 
made  in  the  American  cause  ;  invited  him  to  make 
the  head-quarters  of  the  army  his  home,  and  to  re 
gard  himself,  at  all  times,  as  one  of  the  family  of  the 
Commander-in-chief. 

Such  was  the  reception  given  to  Lafayette,  by  the 
most  sagacious  and  observant  of  men  ;  and  the  per 
sonal  acquaintance,  thus  commenced,  ripened  into 
an  intimacy,  a  confidence,  and  an  affection  without 
bounds,  and  never  for  one  moment  interrupted.  If 
there  lived  a  man  whom  Washington  loved,  it  was 
Lafayette.  The  proofs  of  this  are  not  wanted  by 
those  who  have  read  the  history  of  the  Revolution, — 
but  the  private  correspondence  of  these  two  great 
men,  hitherto  unpublished,  discloses  the  full  extent 
of  the  mutual  regard  and  affection  which  united 
them.  It  not  only  shews  that  Washington  entertain- 


22 

ed  the  highest  opinion  of  the  military  talent,  the  per 
sonal  probity,  and  the  general  prudence  and  energy 
of  Lafayette,  but  that  he  regarded  him  with  the 
tenderness  of  a  father ;  and  found  in  the  affection, 
which  Lafayette  bore  to  him  in  return,  one  of  the 
greatest  comforts  and  blessings  of  his  own  life. 
Whenever  the  correspondence  of  Washington  and 
Lafayette  shall  be  published,  the  publication  will 
do,  what  perhaps  nothing  else  can,  raise  them  both 
in  the  esteem  and  admiration  of  mankind. 

It  was  on  the  31st  of  July,  1777,  that  Lafayette 
received,  by  a  resolution  of  Congress,  his  commis 
sion  as  a  Major  General  in  the  American  Army. 
Not  having  at  first  a  separate  command,  he  attached 
himself  to  the  army  of  the  Commander-in-chief,  as  a 
volunteer.  On  the  llth  of  the  following  September, 
he  was  present  at  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Brandy- 
wine.  He  there  plunged,  with  a  rashness,  par 
donable  in  a  very  youthful  commander,  into  the 
hottest  of  the  battle,  exposed  himself  to  all  its  dan 
gers,  and  exhibited  a  conspicuous  example  of  coolness 
and  courage.  When  the  troops  began  to  retreat  in 
disorder,  he  threw  himself  from  his  horse,  entered  the 
ranks,  and  endeavored  to  rally  them.  While  thus 
employed,  he  was  shot  by  a  musket  ball  through  the 
leg.  The  wound  was  not  perceived  by  himself,  till 
he  was  told  by  his  aid,  that  the  blood  was  running 
from  his  boot.  He  fell  in  with  a  surgeon,  who  plac 
ed  a  slight  bandage  on  his  limb,  with  which  he  rode 
to  Chester.  Regardless  of  his  situation,  he  thought 
only  of  rallying  the  troops,  who  were  retreating  in 


23 

disorder  through  the  village  ;  and  it  was  not  till 
this  duty  was  performed,  that  the  wound  was  dressed. 
It  was  two  months  before  it  was  sufficiently  healed 
to  enable  him  to  rejoin  the  army.  This  was  the  first 
battle  in  which  he  was  ever  engaged,  and  such  was 
his  entrance  into  the  active  service  of  America. 

It  would  obviously  be  impossible  to  do  more  than 
glance  at  the  military  services  of  Lafayette  during 
the  Revolutionary  War,  but  it  seems  to  belong  to  a 
proper  treatment  of  the  subject  that  they  should  not 
be  wholly  omitted. 

In  the  winter  of  1778,  he  was  designated  to  the 
command  of  an  expedition  into  Canada,  a  project 
formed,  without  consulting  Washington,  by  the  mem 
bers  of  Congress  and  the  cabal  in  the  army  opposed 
to  the  Commander-in-chief.  Lafayette  was  placed 
at  the  head  of  it,  partly,  no  doubt,  with  a  view  of  de 
taching  him  from  the  support  and  thereby  impairing 
the  influence  of  Washington.  But  his  veneration  for 
Washington,  his  good  feeling,  his  sound  military  judg 
ment,  and  above  all  his  correct  perception  of  the 
character  of  the  great  man  aimed  at,  enabled  him  to 
escape  the  snare.  On  repairing  to  Albany,  he  found 
no  preparations  made  to  carry  the  expedition  into  ef 
fect.  He  perceived  its  impracticability,  and  it  was 
abandoned.  His  retreat  at  Barren-hill,  from  a  very 
critical  and  dangerous  situation,  into  which  he  was 
thrown  by  the  abandonment  of  their  post  on  the  part 
of  a  detachment  of  militia  stationed  to  protect  his  po 
sition,  received  the  highest  commendations  of  Wash 
ington.  On  General  Lee's  declining  the  command  of 


24 

the  advance  of  the  army  at  Monmouth,  it  was  given 
to  Lafayette.  Lee,  perceiving  the  importance  of  the 
command,  and  the  unfavorable  appearance  which  his 
waiver  of  it  mie;ht  wear,  prevailed  with  great  difficulty 
on  Lafayette,  the  day  before  the  battle,  to  allow  him 
to  assume  it.  The  conduct  of  Lafayette  on  that  im 
portant  day  was  marked  with  bravery  and  skill.  On 
the  very  day  that  the  British  effected  their  entrance 
into  New- York,  the  French  fleet,  under  the  Count 
d'Estaing,  appeared  in  the  American  waters.  Rhode- 
Island  having  been  fixed  upon,  as  the  theatre  of 
operations,  Lafayette  was  detached  with  two  brig 
ades,  to  join  the  army  under  General  Sullivan. 
During  all  the  perilous  incidents  of  this  critical  and 
unsuccessful  campaign,  the  most  important  services 
were  rendered  by  Lafayette.  He  exerted  the  hap 
piest  influence  in  restoring  harmony  between  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  French  and  American  ar 
mies,  which  had  been  seriously  interrupted,  in  conse 
quence  of  the  unfortunate  issue  of  the  expedition. 
This  was  of  infinite  importance  to  the  cause,  as  a 
permanent  disgust  on  the  part  of  the  French  troops, 
in  this  the  first  expedition  sent  out  in  virtue  of  the  al 
liance,  might  have  effectually  damped  the  further  ef 
forts  of  France.  His  services  on  the  occasion  were 
acknowledged  by  express  resolutions  of  Congress. 

France  being  now  in  a  state  of  declared  hostility 
against  England,  and  Lafayette  being  still  an  officer 
in  the  French  army,  he  deemed  it  his  duty,  at  the 
close  of  the  campaign,  to  return  to  his  native  country, 
and  place  himself  at  the  disposal  of  his  government. 


25 

He  united  with  this  object  that  of  exerting  his  influ 
ence  in  favor  of  America,  by  his  personal  conferences 
with  the  French  ministry.  He  accordingly  applied 
to  Congress  for  a  furlough,  which  on  the  particular 
recommendation  of  General  Washington  was  granted. 
This  permission  was  accompanied  by  resolutions  ex 
pressing,  in  flattering  terms,  the  sense,  which  was 
entertained  by  Congress,  of  the  importance  of  his 
services,  and  by  a  letter  recommending  him  to  the 
good  offices  of  the  American  minister  in  France.  At 
the  same  time  also,  Congress  ordered  that  a  sword 
should  be  presented  to  him,  adorned  with  emblematic 
devices,  appropriate  to  its  object. 

Lafayette  embarked  for  France  at  Boston  in  Jan 
uary  1779,  on  board  an  American  frigate.  Just 
before  arriving  on  the  coasts  of  France,  he  happily 
discovered  and  assisted  in  subduing  a  mutiny  on  the 
part  of  some  British  prisoners  of  war,  whom  he  had 
been  induced  to  admit  as  a  portion  of  the  crew  of  the 
frigate,  from  his  aversion  to  impressment,  which 
must  otherwise  have  been  resorted  to,  in  order  to 
make  up  the  ship's  complement  of  men.  He  was  now 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  and  returned  after  two  years 
of  absence,  marked  with  honorable  scars,  and  sig 
nalized  by  the  thanks  of  Congress,  the  admiration  of 
America,  and  the  friendship  of  Washington.  He  was 
received  with  enthusiasm  by  the  people,  and  even  at 
court.  As  he  had  left  the  country  in  disobedience 
to  a  royal  mandate,  etiquette  demanded  that  he 
should  for  a  few  days  be  required  to  keep  his  house, 
and  to  see  no  persons  but  the  members  of  his  family. 

D 


26 

This,  however,  embraced  within  its  circle  nearly  ev 
ery  person  of  distinction  about  the  court.  His  name 
had  already  been  introduced  into  several  dramatic 
performances,  and  hailed  with  acclamations  in  the  the 
atres  ;  and  a  beautiful  apostrophe  to  him  in  one  of 
these  performances,  was  copied  by  the  Queen,  and 
long  preserved  in  her  hand  writing,  by  her  confi 
dential  attendant  Madame  Campan.  On  a  journey 
to  one  of  his  estates,  in  the  south  of  France,  the 
whole  population  came  out  to  meet  him,  and  the 
fetes  of  the  city  of  Orleans,  in  honor  of  his  return, 
were  prolonged  for  a  week. 

The  entire  benefit  of  the  enthusiasm,  of  which  he 
was  thus  the  object,  was  turned  by  Lafayette  to  the 
advantage  of  America.  He  was  the  confidential  ad 
viser  of  Dr.  Franklin ;  he  was  in  unbroken  corres 
pondence  with  Washington,  and  he  was  sure  to  be 
approached  by  every  American  arriving  in  France, 
and  by  every  European  repairing  to  America.  A 
Major  General  in  her  armies,  he  was  clothed  with  an 
official  right  to  interfere  in  her  cause  ;  and  his  country 
being  now  at  war  with  England,  no  reasons  of  state 
interposed  to  check  his  activity.  He  was  as  a  French 
officer  attached  to  the  staff  of  the  Marshal  Vaux,  at 
that  time  Commander-in-chief  of  the  French  army. 
In  this  capacity,  having  direct  access  to  the  court, 
the  personal  and  warmly  devoted  friend  of  the  Count 
de  Vergennes,  and  the  popular  favorite,  he  did  for 
America  what  no  other  man  could  have  done,  and 
rendered  services  to  the  cause  not  yet  sufficiently  ap 
preciated, — and  worthy  a  moment's  reflection. 


27 

The  alliance  with  France,  was  the  great  turning 
point  in  the  fortunes  of  the  Revolution.  I  do  not, 
of  course,  say  that,  without  it,  our  independence  could 
not  have  been  established.  Had  this  failed,  other 
means  would,  no  doubt,  in  some  wholly  different 
train  of  affairs,  have  been  disclosed.  I  would  not 
say  of  any  thing,  not  even  of  the  character  of  Wash 
ington,  that,  without  it,  the  country  could  not  have 
been  carried  through  the  war.  But  in  looking  back 
upon  the  history  of  the  times,  I  cannot  now  perceive 
that  in  the  series  of  events  by  which  the  Independence 
of  the  United  States  was  achieved,  the  alliance  with 
France  could  have  been  dispensed  with.  Her  recog 
nition  of  our  Independence  inspirited  our  own  coun 
cils,  and  disheartened  England.  The  loans  of  money 
and  military  supplies  derived  from  France,  were  a 
vital  resource,  for  which  I  know  not  what  substitute 
could  have  been  found  ; — and  finally,  the  co-operation 
of  her  fleets  and  armies,  involving,  as  it  did  eventually 
that  of  the  Spanish  forces,  brought  down  upon  the 
British  ministry  a  burden  which  they  could  not  bear, 
and  compelled  them  to  abandon  the  struggle. 

At  the  same  time,  the  greatest  difficulties  opposed 
themselves  to  the  practical  developement  of  the 
benefits  of  the  treaty  of  alliance.  In  the  first  place, 
it  required  of  an  old  European  monarchy  to  counte 
nance  a  colonial  revolt.  France  had  colonies.  Spain, 
the  kindred  sovereignty,  had  a  colonial  world  in 
America,  where  the  formidable  and  all  but  successful 
revolt  of  Tupac-Amaru  was  already  in  secret  prepa 
ration.  It  was  the  last  moment,  which  France  or 


28 

Spain  would  have  voluntarily  chosen,  to  sanction  an 
example  of  transatlantic  independence.  The  finances 
of  France  were  any  thing  but  prosperous,  and  she 
had  to  support,  unaided,  the  expense  of  the  fleets 
and  armies  which  she  sent  to  our  assistance.  Great 
difficulties,  it  was  supposed,  would  attend  the  co 
operation  of  a  French  army  with  American  forces  on 
land.  Congress  was  jealous  of  the  introduction  of  a 
foreign  soldiery  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  and 
Washington  himself  gave  but  a  reluctant  consent  to 
the  measure.  Considerable  discontent  had  arisen  in 
connection  with  Count  d'  Estaing's  movements  in 
Rhode  Island,  which, — had  it  not  been  allayed  by 
the  prudent  and  effectual  mediation  of  Lafayette, — 
would,  as  has  been  already  stated,  probably  have  pre 
vented  a  French  army  from  being  sent  over  to  the 
United  States.  Such  were  the  feelings,  on  both 
sides  of  the  ocean,  when  Lafayette  went  back  to 
France  in  1779  ;  and  during  the  whole  of  that  year, 
he  exerted  himself  unceasingly,  in  his  correspondence 
and  conferences  with  the  French  ministry,  to  induce 
them  to  send  out  an  army.  The  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  were  all  but  insurmountable,  acting,  as  he 
was,  not  only  without  the  instructions,  but  against  the 
sense  of  Congress,  and  scarcely  sanctioned  by  Wash 
ington.  He,  however,  knew  that  success  would  at 
tend  the  measure.  He  had  that  interior  conviction, 
which  no  argument  or  authority  can  subdue,  that  the 
proposed  expedition  was  practicable  and  expedient, 
and  he  succeeded  in  imparting  his  enthusiasm  to  the 
ministers.  He  knew  that  the  anticipated  difficulties 


29 

could  be  overcome.  He  had  proved,  in  his  own  ex 
perience,  that  co-operation  was  practicable.  Milita 
ry  subordination  made  it  impossible  to  put  him,  a 
young  man  of  twenty-two,  holding  in  the  King's 
army  only  the  commission  of  a  subaltern,  in  the 
command  of  a  large  force ;  but  he  relied,  with  a 
just  confidence,  on  the  services,  which  his  standing 
in  America  and  his  possession  of  the  confidence  of 
Washington  would  enable  him  to  render.  He  ac 
cordingly  pursued  the  object,  with  an  ardor,  an  in 
dustry,  and  an  adroitness,  which  nothing  could  sur 
pass.  When  his  correspondence  with  the  French 
ministers,  particularly  the  Count  de  Vergennes,  shall 
be  published,  it  will  appear  that  it  was  mainly  the 
personal  efforts  and  personal  influence  of  Lafayette, 
— idol  of  the  French  people  as  he  had  made  himself, 
— which  caused  the  army  of  Rochambeau  to  be  sent 
to  America.  It  was  pleasantly  remarked  by  the  old 
Count  de  Maurepas,  who,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine, 
still  stood  at  the  head  of  the  French  ministry,  that 
i  it  was  fortunate  for  the  king,  that  Lafayette  did 
not  take  it  into  his  head  to  strip  Versailles  of  its 
furniture,  to  send  to  his  dear  Americans; — as  his 
Majesty  would  have  been  unable  to  refuse  it.'  In 
addition  to  his  efforts  to  obtain  the  army  of  Rocham 
beau,  Lafayette  was  actively  employed,  during  the 
year  1779,  in  conjunction  with  our  ministers,  in 
procuring  a  large  pecuniary  subsidy  for  the  United 
States. 

Having  thus  contributed  to  the  accomplishment  of 
these  great  objects,  he  returned  to  America  in  the 


30 

Spring  of  1780.  He  landed  at  Boston,  where, 
though  nothing  was  as  jet  known  of  the  all  import 
ant  services  he  had  rendered  to  us,  he  was  received 
with  every  mark  of  attachment  and  admiration.  He 
immediately  repaired  to  the  head-quarters  of  the 
army ;  but  soon  left  them  to  arrange  with  Count 
Rochambeau  the  interview  between  him  and  the 
Commander-in-chief,  in  which  the  future  operations 
of  the  campaign  were  concerted,  at  which  also  he 
was  present.  He  was  at  West  Point,  at  the  period 
of  the  ever  memorable  scene  of  the  treachery  of  Ar 
nold.  The  following  winter,  he  marched  at  the  head 
of  his  division  to  Portsmouth  in  Virginia,  to  co-ope 
rate  in  an  attack  on  the  British  forces,  by  the  com 
bined  French  and  American  troops.  This  plan  failed, 
in  consequence  of  the  reverses  experienced  by  the 
French  squadron,  under  Destouches.  On  his  march 
backward  to  the  North,  Lafayette  received  a  courier 
from  Washington,  informing  him  of  the  concentra 
tion  of  the  troops  under  Lord  Cornwallis,  Phillips, 
and  Arnold,  in  Virginia,  and  directing  him  to  watch 
their  movements,  and  prevent  this  great  state,  whose 
fortunes  involved  that  of  the  whole  Southern  country, 
from  falling  into  their  hands.  This  order  found  him 
at  the  head  of  the  Elk,  in  Maryland.  He  instantly 
put  in  train  the  requisite  measures  of  preparation. 
His  scanty  force  was  in  a  state  of  perfect  destitution. 
In  all  his  army,  there  was  not  a  pair  of  shoes  fit  for 
service.  But  the  love  and  confidence,  which  the 
country  bore  him,  supplied  the  place  of  credit;  and 
he  was  able,  in  his  own  name,  to  raise  a  loan  in 


31 

Baltimore,  sufficient  to  supply  the  most  urgent  wants 
of  his  little  command.  Thus  furnished,  he  hastened 
into  Virginia,  and  during  the  whole  summer  of  1781, 
he  conducted  the  campaign  with  a  vigor,  discretion, 
and  success,  which  saved  the  State  of  Virginia,  and 
proved  himself  to  be  endowed  with  the  highest  qual 
ities  of  generalship.  While  Lord  Cornwallis,  to 
whom  he  was  opposed, — a  person  not  less  eminent 
for  talent  and  experience,  than  for  rank  and  political 
influence, — was  boasting,  in  derision  of  his  youthful 
adversary,  that  «  the  boy  should  not  escape  him,'  the 
boy  was  preparing  a  pit,  into  which  his  lordship 
plunged,  with  all  his  forces. 

My  limits  do  not  allow  me  to  sketch  to  you  the 
history  of  this  great  campaign,  nor  even  of  its  final 
glorious  consummation,  the  closing  scene  of  the  war. 
But  I  may,  with  propriety,  pause  to  say,  that  it  evinc 
ed,  on  the  part  of  our  venerable  Washington,  now  at 
length  favored  with  an  opportunity  of  acting  with  am 
ple  means  on  a  broad  scale,  a  power  of  combina 
tion  and  a  reach  of  mind,  with  a  promptitude  and 
vigor  of  execution  which,  exhibited  at  the  head  of 
mighty  armies,  gave  to  Napoleon  his  reputation,  as 
the  greatest  captain  of  the  age.  I  cannot  but  think, 
that  in  the  manoeuvres,  by  which  Lord  Cornwallis 
was  detained  in  Virginia  ; — by  which  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  was  persuaded,  in  New- York,  that  a  siege 
of  that  city  was  the  great  object  of  Washington, — by 
which  the  French  forces  were  brought  up  from  Rhode 
Island  ; — the  armies  of  Washington  and  Rocham- 
beau  moved,  by  a  forced  march  across  the  country, 


32 

to  Yorktown,  at  the  moment  that  the  French  squad 
ron  from  Newport,  under  the  Count  de  Barras,  and 
the  great  fleet  under  the  Count  de  Grasse,  effected 
their  junction  in  the  Chesapeake, — there  is  displayed 
as  much  generalship,  as  in  any  series  of  movements 
in  the  wars  of  the  last  thirty  years.  The  operations 
of  Lafayette  in  Virginia,  in  the  preceding  summer, 
were  the  basis  of  them  all ;  as  his  untiring  efforts  in 
France,  the  preceding  season,  had  mainly  occasioned 
the  despatch  of  the  army  of  Count  Rochambeau,  with 
out  which,  the  great  exploit  at  Yorktown,  could  not 
have  been  achieved. 

And  who  that  has  a  sense  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in 
military  display,  grand  and  eventful  in  political  com 
binations,  and  auspicious  to  the  cause  of  liberty, — 
but  must  linger  a  moment  on  the  plain  of  Yorktown. 
Before  you,  stretches  the  broad  expanse  of  York  riv 
er,  an  arm  of  Chesapeake  bay.  Beyond  it,  to  the 
north,  the  British  General  has  left  a  force  at  Glou 
cester  point,  for  his  support,  should  he  be  compelled 
to  retreat  across  the  river;  and  there  the  Duke  de 
Lauzun,  with  his  legion,  united  with  the  Virginia 
militia,  effectually  encloses  the  British  force  within 
their  lines.  The  intervening  expanse  of  water  is  cov 
ered  with  the  British  vessels  of  war.  But  it  is 
around  the  lines  of  Yorktown,  that  the  interest  of  the 
scene  is  concentrated.  Above  the  town  are  stationed 
the  French,  below  the  Americans.  The  royal  regi 
ments  of  Deux  Fonts,  of  Touraine  and  Saintonge,  on 
the  one  side,  and  the  troops  ol  Pennsylvania  and  Vir 
ginia,  of  New-Jersey  and  New-England  on  the  other. 


33 

The  Marquis  de  St.  Simon  commanded  on  the  extreme 
left,  and  General  Lincoln  on  the  extreme  right.  Be 
fore  the  former,  we  behold  the  position  of  the  two 
Viornenils,  and  near  the  latter  the  post  of  Lafayette. 
At  the  point  of  junction  between  the  two  lines,  the 
head-quarters  of  Count  Rochambeau  and  those  of 
Washington  are  placed,  in  harmony  of  council  and  of 
action,  side  by  side.  Two  redoubts  are  to  be  carried. 
To  excite  the  generous  emulation  of  the  combined 
forces,  one  is  committed  to  the  French  and  the  other 
to  the  Americans.  Lafayette,  with  Hamilton  at  his 
side,  commands  the  latter,  and  both  redoubts  are  car 
ried  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  Cornwallis  attempts, 
but  without  success,  to  escape.  He  is  reduced,  after 
a  seige  of  thirteen  days,  to  enter  into  capitulation  ; 
and  the  last  British  army  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
surrenders  to  the  united  forces  of  America  and 
France. 

At  the  close  of  the  campaign,  to  the  successful 
issue  of  which  he  had  so  essentially  contributed, 
Lafayette  again  asked  the  permission  of  Congress  to 
return  to  France.  Well  might  they  permit  him,  for  he 
went  to  rouse  France  and  Spain,  with  all  their  fleets, 
armies,  and  treasures,  to  strike  a  last  and  an  over 
whelming  blow.  A  committee  of  Congress,  of  which 
Charles  Carroll  was  chairman  and  James  Madison  was 
a  member,  reported  a  series  of  resolutions  of  the  most 
honorable  character,  which  were  adopted  by  that 
body.  They  directed  all  the  ministers  of  the  United 
States,  in  Europe,  to  confer  and  correspond  with  La 
fayette,  they  invited  him  to  correspond  with  Congress, 


34 

and  they  recommended  him,  in  the  most  affectionate 
terms,  to  the  especial  favor  of  his  sovereign. 

He  returned  to  his  native  country,  with  these  new 
laurels  and  new  titles  to  admiration,  and  France  rose 
up  as  one  man  to  receive  him.  His  welcome,  before 
enthusiastic,  was  now  rapturous  ;  it  was  prompted 
before  by  admiration  of  a  chivalrous  adventure,  but 
the  national  pride  and  patriotic  spirit  of  Frenchmen 
were  now  aroused.  The  heavy  reproach  of  the  seven 
years'  war  was  rolled  away  ;  and  the  stains  of  Que 
bec  washed  white  at  Yorktown.  The  government, 
as  well  as  the  people  of  France,  was  elated  at  the 
success  of  the  campaign  ; — all  doubts  as  to  the  possi 
bility  of  a  combined  action  were  removed ;  and  to 
Lafayette,  as  the  prime  mover  of  the  enterprise,  pro 
portionate  credit  was  justly  given  for  his  forecast 
and  sagacity.  He  could  now  ask  for  nothing  that 
was  deemed  extravagant ;  or  however  extravagant, 
he  could  ask  for  nothing  which  could  be  refused. 
The  enthusiasm  caught  from  France  to  Spain.  The 
Castilian  coldness  was  melted  ;  and  although  the 
mountains  of  Peru  were  bristling  with  the  bayonets 
of  the  last  of  the  Incas,  King  Charles  II L  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  of  humbling  Great  Britain,  and 
resolved  at  last  that  Spain  and  the  Indies  should  go, 
with  all  their  resources,  for  the  Congress.  A  mighty 
plan  of  campaign  was  resolved  on.  An  expedition, 
such  as  Europe  has  rarely  witnessed,  was  projected. 
The  old  Armada  seemed  almost  to  rise  from  the 
depths  of  the  ocean,  in  mightily  augmented  array,  to 
avenge  the  ancient  disasters  of  Spain. 


35 

The  preparations  commenced  at  Cadiz.  Count 
d'Estaing  as  generalissimo,  with  sixty  vessels  of  the 
line  and  smaller  ships  in  proportion,  with  twenty- four 
thousand  troops,  was  to  make  a  descent  on  Jamaica, 
and  thence  strike  at  New- York.  Lafayette  was  the 
first  at  the  rendezvous :  he  had  already  proceeded  with 
eight  thousand  men  from  Brest  to  Cadiz.  He  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  staff  of  the  combined  armies, 
and  after  New- York  had  fallen,  was  to  have  moved 
with  his  division  into  Canada.  But  these  magnifi 
cent  and  formidable  preparations  effected  their  object, 
at  a  cheaper  cost  than  that  of  rivers  of  blood.  The 
British  government  learned  wisdom,  before  it  was  too 
late ; — and  the  peace  was  concluded.  It  was  the 
wish  of  Lafayette  to  bear  in  person  the  joyous  ti 
dings  to  America.  Just  as  he  was  about  stepping  on 
board  a  frigate,  for  that  purpose,  he  returned  to  Mad 
rid,  to  render  an  important  service  to  our  minister 
there.  But  his  despatches  were  sent  by  the  frigate, 
and  conveyed  to  Congress  the  first  intelligence  of  the 
peace. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  year,  he  yielded  to 
the  invitation  of  Washington  and  his  other  friends,  and 
revisited  America.  He  was  received  with  acclamations 
of  joy  and  gratitude  from  one  end  of  the  country  to 
the  other ;  but  no  where  with  a  more  cordial  wel 
come  than  in  this  ancient  metropolis.  On  the  19th 
of  October  1784,  in  the  hall  in  which  we  are  now 
assembled  to  pay  the  last  tribute  to  his  memory,  sur 
rounded  by  his  fellow  soldiers,  by  the  authorities  of 
the  commonwealth,  the  magistracy  of  the  town,  and 


36 

the  grateful  and  admiring  citizens  of  Boston,  he  cel 
ebrated  the  third  anniversary  of  the  capture  of  Corn- 
wallis,  in  which  he  had  himself  so  efficiently  co-oper 
ated.  Fifty  years  have  passed  away.  The  pillars  of 
this  venerable  hall,  then  twined  with  garlands,  are 
hung  with  mourning.  The  cypress  has  taken  the 
place  of  the  rose  bud.  The  songs  of  patriotic  rejoic 
ing  are  hushed  ;  and  the  funeral  anthem  is  heard  in 
their  stead  ;  but  the  memory  of  the  beloved  champi 
on,  the  friend  of  America  and  of  freedom,  shall 
bloom  in  eternal  remembrance.* 

The  year  after  his  return  to  France,  Lafayette 
made  a  tour  in  Germany.  He  was  received  through 
out  that  country,  with  the  attention  due  to  his  rank 
and  the  eclat  of  his  services  in  America.  At  Vienna, 
he  met  the  Duke  of  York,  at  the  table  of  the  Em 
peror  Joseph,  and  employed  the  opportunities,  which 
such  an  interview  afforded  him,  to  inculcate  the 
policy  of  a  liberal  course,  on  the  part  of  the  powers  of 
Europe,  and  particularly  Great  Britain,  toward  the 
rising  states  of  America.  He  was  received  with  dis 
tinction  by  Frederick  the  Great,  and  accompanied 
him  on  a  tour  of  inspection  and  review  of  his  armies. 
On  this  occasion,  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
flying  artillery,  which  Frederic  had  just  organized, 
and  formed  the  purpose  of  introducing  it  into  the 
service  of  France,  on  the  first  opportunity ; — an  in- 

*  The  incidents  of  Lafayette's  visit  to  America  in  1784  are  succinctly  re 
lated  in  the  'Letters  of  an  American  Farmer.'  The  narrative  is  highly  in 
teresting,  and  but  for  the  more  recent  and  still  more  extraordinary  event? 
of  1824,  would  well  merit  a  more  detailed  reference. 


37 

tention  which  he  carried  into  effect,  when,  at  the 
commencement  of  the  French  Revolution,  he  was 
placi  d  at  the  head  of  an  army. 

On  his  return  to  Paris,  he  united  with  M.  de  Mal- 
sherbes,  in  endeavoring  to  ameliorate  the  political 
condition  of  the  Protestants.  In  concert  with  the 
minister  of  the  Marine,  the  Marshal  de  Castries,  he 
expended  a  large  sum,  from  his  private  fortune,  in  an 
experiment  towards  the  education  and  eventual  em 
ancipation  of  slaves.  To  this  end  he  purchased  a 
plantation  in  Cayenne,  intending  to  give  freedom  to 
the  laborers,  as  soon  as  they  should  be  in  a  condition 
to  enjoy  it  without  abuse.  In  the  progress  of  the 
Revolution,  this  plantation,  with  the  other  estates  of 
Lafayette,  was  confiscated,  and  the  slaves  sold  back 
to  perpetual  bondage,  by  the  faction  which  was 
drenching  France  in  blood,  under  the  motto  of  liberty 
and  equality. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  troubles  in  Holland  in 
1787,  the  patriotic  party  made  overtures  to  Lafayette 
to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  a  popular  government 
in  that  quarter  ;  but  the  progress  of  the  Revolution 
was  arrested  by  the  invasion  of  Prussia,  and  the  policy 
of  England  and  France.  Besides  this,  greater  events 
were  preparing  at  home. 

As  far  as  the  United  States  were  concerned,  during 
all  the  period,  which  intervened  from  the  peace  of 
1783  to  the  organization  of  the  Federal  government, 
Lafayette  performed  in  substance  the  functions  of 
their  minister.  He  was  engaged  with  indefatigable 
industry  and  a  zeal  that  knew  no  bounds,  in  pro- 


38 

moting  the  interests  of  America  at  the  Courts  of 
France  and  Spain.  The  published  works  of  Mr. 
Jefferson,  which  are  before  the  country,  and  the 
Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  our  ministers  abroad, 
during  this  period,  abundantly  show  that  not  one  of 
the  accredited  ministers  of  the  United  States  abroad, 
able  and  faithful  as  they  were,  was  more  assiduously 
devoted  to  the  service  of  the  country  and  the  promo 
tion  of  its  political  and  commercial  interests,  than 
Lafayette.  New  and  most  convincing  proofs  of  this 
have  recently  come  before  the  public.* 

At  length  the  mighty  crisis  came  on.  The  French 
Revolution  draws  near; — that  stupendous  event  of 
which  it  is  impossible  to  be  silent ; — next  to  impossi 
ble  to  speak.  Louis  XV.  once  said  to  a  courtier, 
'  this  French  monarchy  is  fourteen  hundred  years  old : 
it  cannot  last  long.'  Such  was  the  terrific  sentiment, 
which,  even  in  the  bosom  of  his  base  pleasures,  stole 
into  the  conscience  of  the  modern  Sardanapalus. 
But  in  that  mysterious  and  bewildering  chain  of  con 
nection,  which  binds  together  the  fortunes  of  states 
and  of  men,  the  last  convulsive  effort  of  this  worn 
out  and  decrepit  monarchy,  in  which  the  spasmodic 
remains  of  her  strength  were  exhausted  and  her 
crazy  finances  plunged  into  irretrievable  confusion, 
was  the  American  alliance.  This  corrupt  and  feeble 
despotism,  trembling  on  the  verge  of  an  abyss  toward 
which  time  and  events  were  urging  it,  is  made  to 

*  In  the  two  collections  published  under  the  authority  of  Congress,— the 
Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  Revolution ;  and  its  Continuation  to  the 
Peace  of  1789. 


39 

hold  out  a  strong  and  helping  hand,  to  assist  the  ris 
ing  republic  into  the  family  of  nations.  The  gene 
rous  spirits  whom  she  sent  to  lead  her  armies  to  the 
triumphs  of  republicanism  in  America,  came  back  to 
demand,  for  their  own  country,  and  to  assert  on  their 
own  soil,  those  political  privileges  for  which  they  had 
been  contending  in  America.  The  process  of  argu 
ment  was  short.  If  this  plan  of  government  admin 
istered  by  responsible  agents,  is  good  for  America,  it 
is  good  for  France.  If  our  brethren  in  the  United 
States  will  not  submit  to  power  assumed  by  those 
not  accountable  for  its  abuse,  why  should  we  ?  If 
we  have  done  wisely  and  well  in  going  to  shed  our 
blood,  for  this  constitutional  liberty  beyond  the  At 
lantic,  let  us  be  ready  to  shed  it  in  the  same  great 
cause  for  our  fathers,  for  our  friends,  for  our 
selves,  in  our  native  land.  Is  it  possible  to  find, 
I  will  not  say  a  sound  and  sufficient  answer  to  this 
argument,  but  an  answer,  which  would  be  thought 
sound  and  sufficient  by  the  majority  of  ardent  tem 
pers  and  inquisitive  minds  ? 

The  atrocious,  the  unexampled,  the  ungodly  abus 
es  of  the  reign  of  terror  have  made  the  very  name  of 
the  French  Revolution  hateful  to  mankind.  The 
blood  chills,  the  flesh  creeps,  the  hair  stands  on  end, 
at  the  recital  of  its  horrors ;  and  no  slight  degree  of 
the  odium  they  occasion  is  unavoidably  reflected  on 
all,  who  had  an  agency  in  bringing  it  on.  The  sub 
sequent  events  in  Europe  have  also  involved  the 
French  Revolution  in  a  deep  political  unpopularity. 
It  is  unpopular  in  Great  Britain,  in  the  rest  of  Eu- 


40 

rope,  in  America,  in  France  itself;  and  not  a  little 
of  this  unpopularity  falls  on  every  one  whose  name  is 
prominently  connected  with  it.  All  this  is  prejudice, 
natural  prejudice,  if  you  please,  but  still  prejudice. 
The  French  Revolution  was  the  work  of  sheer  neces 
sity.  It  began  in  the  act  of  the  court,  casting  about, 
in  despair,  for  the  means  of  facing  the  frightful  dila 
pidation  of  the  finances.  Louis  XV.  wras  right, — the 
monarchy  could  not  go  on.  The  Revolution  was  as 
inevitable  as  fate. 

I  go  farther.  Penetrated  as  I  am  to  heart-sickness 
when  I  peruse  the  tale  of  its  atrocities,  I  do  not  scru 
ple  to  declare,  that  the  French  Revolution,  as  it  ex 
isted  in  the  councils  of  Lafayette  and  associates,  and 
while  it  obeyed  their  impulse,  and  so  long  as  it  was 
controlled  by  them,  was,  notwithstanding  the  melan 
choly  excesses  which  stained  even  its  early  stages, 
a  work  of  righteous  reform  ; — that  justice,  humanity, 
and  religion  demanded  it.  I  maintain  this  with  some 
reluctance,  because  it  is  a  matter,  in  respect  to  which 
all  are  not  of  one  mind,  and  I  would  not  willingly 
say  any  thing,  on  this  occasion,  which  could  awaken 
a  single  discordant  feeling.  But  I  speak  from  a 
sense  of  duty ;  and  standing  as  I  do  over  the  grave  of 
Lafayette,  I  may  not,  if  my  feeble  voice  can  prevent 
it,  allow  the  fame  of  one  of  the  purest  men,  that  ever 
lived,  to  be  sacrificed  to  a  prejudice;  to  be  overwhelm 
ed  with  the  odium  of  abuses,  which  he  did  not 
foresee,  which,  if  he  had  foreseen,  he  could  not  have 
averted,  and  with  which,  he  had  himself  no  personal 
connection,  but  as  their  victim.  It  is  for  this  reason, 


41 

I  maintain,  that  the  French  Revolution,  as  conceived 
by  Lafayette,  was  a  work  of  righteous  reform.  Read 
the  history  of  France,  from  the  revocation  of  the  edict 
of  Nantes  downward.  Reflect  upon  the  scandalous 
influence,  which  dictated  that  inhuman  decree  to  the 
dotage  of  Louis  XIV.,  a  decree  which  cost  France  as 
much  blood  as  flowed  under  the  guillotine.  Trace 
the  shameful  annals  of  the  regency,  and  the  annals 
not  less  shameful,  of  Louis  XV.  Consider  the  over 
grown  wealth  and  dissoluteness  of  the  clergy  and  the 
arrogance  and  corruption  of  the  nobility,  possessing 
together  a  vast  proportion  of  the  property,  and  bear 
ing  no  part  of  the  burdens  of  the  state.  Recollect 
the  abuses  of  the  law, — high  judicial  places  venal  in 
the  market, — warrants  of  arrest  issued,  to  the  num 
ber  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  in  the  single 
reign  of  Louis  XV.,  oftentimes  in  blank,  to  court  fa 
vorites,  to  be  filled  up  with  what  names,  for  what 
prisons,  for  what  times  they  pleased.  Add  to  this 
the  oppression  of  the  peasantry  by  iniquitous  taxes, 
that  have  become  proverbial  in  the  history  of  misgov- 
ernment,  and  the  outlawry  of  one  twenty-fourth  part 
of  the  population  as  protestants  ; — who  were  forbid 
den  to  leave  the  kingdom,  subject  to  be  shot  if  they 
crossed  the  frontier,  but  deprived  of  the  protection  of 
the  government  at  home,  their  contracts  annulled, 
their  children  declared  illegitimate,  and  their  minis 
ters, — who  might  venture,  in  dark  forests  and  dreary 
caverns,  to  conduct  their  prohibited  devotions, — 
doomed  to  the  scaffold.  As  late  as  1745,  two  pro- 
testant  ministers  were  executed  in  France,  for  per- 

F 


42 

forming  their  sacred  functions.  Could  men  bear 
these  things  in  a  country  like  France,  a  reading, 
enquiring  country,  with  the  upshot  of  the  American 
Revolution  before  their  eyes,  and  at  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century  ?  Can  any  man  who  has 
Anglo-Saxon  blood  in  his  veins,  hesitate  for  an  an 
swer  ?  Did  not  England  shake  off  less  abuses  than 
these,  a  century  and  a  half  before  ?  Had  not  a  paltry 
unconstitutional  tax,  neither  in  amount  nor  in  principle 
to  be  named  with  the  taille  or  the  gabelle,  just  put  the 
continent  of  America  in  a  flame  ;  and  was  it  possi 
ble  that  the  young  officers  of  the  French  army  should 
come  back  to  their  native  land,  from  the  war  of  po 
litical  emancipation  waged  on  this  continent,  and 
sit  down  contented,  under  the  old  abuses,  at  home  ? 
It  was  not  possible.  The  Revolution  was  as  inevit 
able  as  fate,  and  the  only  question  was,  by  whose 
agency  it  should  be  brought  on. 

The  first  step  in  the  French  Revolution  was,  as  is 
well  known,  the  assembly  of  Notables,  February  22d, 
1787.  Its  last  convocation  had  been  in  1626,  under 
the  Cardinal  Richelieu.  It  was  now  convoked  by 
the  minister  Calonne,  the  controller  general  of  the 
finances,  from  the  utter  impossibility,  without  some 
unusual  resources,  of  providing  for  the  deficit  in  the 
finances,  which  had,  for  the  preceding  year,  amount 
ed  to  181,000,000  livres,  and  was  estimated  at  the 
annual  average  of  140,000,000.  This  assembly  con 
sisted  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  persons,  of 
whom  scarcely  ten  were  in  any  sense  the  representa 
tives  of  the  people.  Lafayette  was  of  course  a  dis- 


43 

tiriguished  member,  then  just  completing  his  thirtieth 
year.  In  an  assembly  called  by  direction  of  the 
King,  and  consisting  almost  exclusively  of  the  high 
aristocracy,  he  stepped  forth,  at  once,  the  Champion 
of  the  People.  It  was  the  intention  of  the  govern 
ment  to  confine  the  action  of  the  assembly  to  the 
discussion  of  the  state  of  the  finances,  and  the  contri 
vance  of  means  to  repair  their  disorder.  It  was  not 
so  that  Lafayette  understood  his  commission.  He 
rose  to  denounce  the  abuses  of  the  government.  The 
Count  d'Artois, — since  Charles  X.,  the  brother  of  the 
King, — attempted  to  call  him  to  order,  as  acting  on  a 
subject  not  before  the  assembly.  '  We  are  summon 
ed,'  said  Lafayette,  '  to  make  the  truth  known  to  his 
Majesty.  I  must  discharge  my  duty.'  He  accord 
ingly,  after  an  animated  harangue  on  the  abuses  of 
the  government,  proposed  the  abolition  of  private 
arrests  and  of  the  state  prisons,  in  which  any  one 
might  be  confined,  on  the  warrant  of  the  minister ; 
— the  restoration  of  protestants  to  the  equal  privi 
leges  of  citizenship,  and  the  convocation  of  the 
States  General,  or  representatives  of  the  people. 
'  What,'  said  the  Count  d'  Artois,  *  do  you  demand 
the  States  General  ?'  *  Yes,'  replied  Lafayette,  'and 
something  better  than  that.' 

The  assembly  of  Notables  was  convoked  a  second 
time  in  1788,  and  Lafayette  was  again  found  in  his 
place,  pleading  for  the  representation  of  the  people. 
As  a  member  of  the  provincial  assemblies  of  Au- 
vergne  and  Britanny,  he  also  took  the  lead  in  all  the 
measures  of  reform,  that  were  proposed  by  those 
patriotic  bodies. 


44 

But  palliatives  were  vain ;  it  became  impossible  to 
resist  the  impulse  of  public  opinion,  and  the  States 
General  were  convened.  This  body  assembled  at 
Versailles  on  the  third  of  May  1789.  According  to 
Mr.  Jefferson,  writing  from  personal  observation  on 
the  spot,  its  initiatory  movements  were  concerted  by 
Lafayette  and  a  small  circle  of  friends,  at  the  hotel 
of  Mr.  Jefferson  himself,  who  calls  Lafayette  at  this 
momentous  period  of  its  progress,  the  Atlas  of  the  Re 
volution.*  He  proposed  and  carried  through  the  as 
sembly,  of  which  he  was  vice  president,  a  declaration 
of  rights,  analogous  to  those  contained  in  the  American 
constitutions.  He  repeated  the  demand,  which  he  had 
made  in  the  assembly  of  the  Notables,  for  the  sup 
pression  of  lettres  de  cachet,  and  the  admission  of  pro- 
testants  to  all  the  privileges  of  citizens.  For  the  three 
years  that  he  sustained  the  command  of  the  National 
Guard,  he  kept  the  peace  of  the  capital,  rent  as  it  was 
by  the  intrigues  of  the  parties,  the  fury  of  a  debased 
populace,  and  the  agitations  set  on  foot  by  foreign 
powers  ;  and  so  long  as  he  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  Revolution,  with  much  to  condemn  and  more  to 
lament,  and  which  no  one  resisted  more  strenuously 
than  Lafayette,  it  was  a  work  of  just  reform,  after 
ages  of  frightful  corruption  and  abuse. 

Before  the  National  Guard  was  organized,  but 
while  he  rilled  the  place  of  Commander  of  the  city 
guard  of  Paris,  he  was  the  great  bulwark  of  the  pub 
lic  peace,  at  the  critical  period  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Bastile.  From  his  position  at  the  head  of  the 

*  Jefferson's  Correspondence.    Vol.  I.  pp.  75r  84, 


45 

embodied  militia  of  the  capital  and  its  environs,  La 
fayette  was  clothed  in  substance  with  the  concentra 
ted  powers  of  the  state.  These,  it  is  unnecessary  to 
say,  were  exercised  by  him  for  the  preservation  of 
order  and  the  repression  of  violence.  Hundreds  of 
those,  threatened,  at  this  unsettled  period,  as  victims 
of  popular  violence,  were  saved  by  his  intervention. 
But  when  at  length  he  found  himself  unable  to  rescue 
the  unfortunate  Foulon  and  Berthier  from  the  hands  of 
the  infuriated  populace,  he  refused  to  retain  a  power, 
which  he  could  not  make  effective,  and  resigned  his 
post.  The  earnest  entreaties  of  the  friends  of  order, 
assuring  him  that  they  deemed  the  public  peace  to 
be  safe  in  no  hands  but  his,  persuaded  him  to  resume 
it ;  but  not  till  the  electoral  districts  of  Paris  had 
confirmed  the  appointment,  and  promised  to  support 
him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duty. 

It  was  a  short  period  after  this  event,  that  Lafay 
ette  proposed  the  organization  of  the  National  Guard 
of  France.  The  ancient  colors  of  the  city  of  Paris 
were  blue  and  red.  To  indicate  the  union,  which 
he  wished  to  promote  between  a  king  governing  by 
a  constitution  and  a  people  protected  by  laws,  he 
proposed  to  add, — the  white, — the  royal  color  of 
France ;  and  to  form  of  the  three  the  new  ensign  of 
the  nation.  '  I  bring  you,  gentlemen,'  said  he,  *  a 
badge,  which  will  go  round  the  world  ; — an  institu 
tion  at  once  civil  and  military  ;  which  will  change 
the  system  of  European  tactics,  and  reduce  the  ab 
solute  governments  to  the  alternative  of  being  con 
quered,  if  they  do  not  imitate  it,  and  overturned  if 


46 

they  do.'  The  example  of  Paris  was  followed  in 
the  provinces,  and  the  National  Guard,  three  millions 
seven  hundred  thousand  strong,  was  organized 
throughout  France,  with  Lafayette  at  its  head. 

These  are  occurrences,  which  arrest  the  attention, 
as  the  eye  runs  down  the  crowded  page  of  the  chron 
icles  of  the  time.  But  we  are  too  apt  to  pass  over 
unnoticed,  the  humbler  efforts,  by  which  Lafayette 
endeavored,  from  the  first  moment  of  the  Revolution, 
to  make  it  produce  the  fruits  of  practical  reform  in  the 
institutions  of  the  country.  Under  his  influence,  and 
against  strong  opposition, — a  deputation  was  sent  by 
the  city  of  Paris  to  the  national  assembly,  demanding 
an  immediate  reform  in  criminal  jurisprudence, — the 
publicity  of  trials, — the  confrontation  of  witnesses, 
— the  privilege  of  counsel  for  the  accused,  and  free 
intercourse  between  the  prisoner  and  his  family. 
These  privileges  were  enjoyed  by  the  accused,  in 
the  only  three  state  trials  which  took  place  while 
Lafayette  retained  his  popularity ;  and  the  credit  of 
having  obtained  them  was  justly  ascribed  to  him,  by 
the  counsel  of  one  of  the  individuals  by  whom  they 
were  enjoyed. 

On  the  5th  of  October  1789,  occurred  the  only 
incident  in  the  life  of  Lafayette,  upon  which  calum 
ny  has  ventured  to  rely,  as  having  affixed  a  blot  upon 
his  fair  fame.  Even  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  relating 
the  history  of  this  occurrence,  has  afforded  some 
countenance  to  the  imputations  against  Lafayette. 
I  trust,  therefore,  I  shall  not  seem  to  descend  too 
much  into  particulars,  if  I  briefly  repeat  the  incidents 
of  that  night  of  terror. 


47 

Paris,  during  the  whole  of  this  memorable  season, 
was  in  a  state  of  the  greatest  excitement.  All  the 
elements  of  confusion  were  in  the  highest  action.  A 
great  political  revolution  in  progress, — the  King 
feeble  and  irresolute,  but  already  subdued  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  events, — his  family  and  court  divid 
ed,  corrupt,  and  laboring,  by  intrigue  and  treachery, 
to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  Revolution, — the  Duke 
of  Orleans  lavishing  immense  sums  to  sow  dissension 
and  urge  the  Revolution  to  a  point,  at  which,  as  he 
hoped,  it  would  transfer  the  crown  from  the  head  of 
his  unhappy  kinsman  to  his  own ; — the  fiercest  con 
flicts  among  the  different  orders  of  the  state,  and  a 
wild  consciousness  of  power  in  the  mass  of  the  peo 
ple,  late  awakened  for  the  recovery  of  long  lost 
rights  and  the  revenge  of  centuries  of  oppression  ; — 
these  were  some  of  the  elements  of  disorder.  The 
match  was  laid  to  the  train,  at  a  festival  at  the  palace 
at  Versailles,  at  which  the  national  cockade  was  tram 
pled  under  foot  by  the  body  guard,  in  presence  of  the 
Queen  and  her  infant  son,  and  the  Revolution  denoun 
ced  in  terms  of  menace  and  contumely.  The  news 
spread  to  Paris, — already  convulsed  by  the  intrigues 
of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  exasperated  by  a  want  of 
bread.  The  hungry  populace  were  told,  that  the 
famine  which  they  suffered  was  intentionally  produc 
ed  by  the  King  and  his  ministry,  for  the  purpose  of 
starving  them  back  to  slavery.  Riots  broke  out  at 
an  early  hour  on  the  5th  of  October,  around  the  City 
Hall.  For  eight  hours  Lafayette  exerted  himself, 
and  not  without  success,  to  restrain  the  frantic 


48 

crowds,  which  constantly  reassembled,  as  soon  as 
dispersed,  with  cries,  '  to  Versailles  for  bread.' 
Hearing  at  length,  that  from  other  points  of  the  cap 
ital  infuriated  mobs  were  moving  toward  Versailles, 
with  muskets  and  cannons,  he  asked  the  orders  of 
the  municipality  to  hasten  himself,  with  a  detachment 
of  the  National  Guard,  to  the  defence  of  the  royal 
family.  On  his  arrival  at  Versailles,  he  administered 
to  the  troops  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  nation,  the 
law,  and  the  King.  He  entered  the  court  of  the 
palace,  accompanied  only  by  two  commissioners  of 
the  city.  It  was  filled  with  Swiss  guards,  and  the 
terrified  inmates  of  the  palace  ;  and  as  he  advanced, 
the  gloomy  silence  was  broken  by  the  exclamation 
of  some  person  present,  '  Here  comes  Cromwell.' 
4  Cromwell,'  replied  Lafayette, '  would  not  have  come 
here  alone.'  Admitted  to  the  presence  of  the  King, 
whom  he  treated  with  the  deference  due  to  his  rank, 
Lafayette  asked  that  the  posts  in  and  about  the  pal 
ace  might  be  confided  to  him.  This  request  was  re 
fused,  as  contrary  to  etiquette.  In  consequence,  the 
palace  itself,  the  interior  court,  and  the  approach  by 
the  garden  remained,  as  usual,  protected  only  by 
the  body  guard  and  the  Swiss.  At  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  Lafayette  made  the  round  of  the  posts 
under  his  command,  and  asked  another  interview 
with  the  King  ;  but  was  told  that  he  was  asleep. 
After  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  while  all  was 
quiet,  exhausted  by  nearly  twenty-four  hours  of  un- 
remitted  and  anxious  labor,  he  repaired  to  his  quarters 
in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  palace,  to  receive 


49 

the  reports  of  his  aids, — to  prepare  despatches  for 
Paris, — and  to  take  food  and  repose.  Scarcely  had 
he  reached  his  quarters  for  these  purposes,  when  an 
officer  ran  to  apprize  him,  that  a  band  of  ruffians,  con 
cealed  in  the  shrubbery  of  the  garden,  had  burst  into 
the  palace  and  forced  their  way  over  two  of  the  body 
guards,  to  the  chamber  of  the  Queen ;  who  was 
barely  enabled,  by  the  brave  resistance  of  the 
guards  at  her  door,  to  escape  with  her  life. 

Lafayette  rushed  to  the  scene  of  action,  with  the 
detachment  of  his  force  nearest  at  hand,  and  took 
the  proper  steps  to  arrest  the  progress  of  the  disorder. 
The  royal  family  were  protected, — and  several  of 
the  body  guards  rescued  from  the  mob.  Happening 
to  be  left  alone,  at  one  moment,  in  the  midst  of  the 
lawless  crowd,  an  individual  among  them  raised  a 
cry  for  the  head  of  Lafayette.  The  imminent  dan 
ger  in  which  he  stood  was  averted  by  the  coolness, 
with  which  he  ordered  the  madman  to  be  seized  by 
his  fellows  around  him.  The  King  deemed  it  ne 
cessary  to  yield  to  the  clamors  of  the  populace,  and 
return  with  them  to  Paris.  Lafayette  was  alarmed 
at  the  symptoms  of  disaffection  toward  the  Queen, 
which  still  prevailed  in  the  throng.  At  once  to  make 
trial  of  the  popular  feeling  and  to  extend  to  her  the 
protection  of  his  unbounded  popularity,  he  had  the 
courage  to  propose  to  her,  to  appear  with  him  alone 
on  the  balcony  of  the  castle,  with  her  son  the  dau 
phin  on  her  arm.  Leading  her  forward  towards  the 
people,  it  was  his  purpose  to  make  an  appeal  to 
them,  on  her  behalf.  The  confused  acclamations  of 


50 

the  vast  throng  prevented  his  being  heard ;  and  una 
ble,  in  any  other  manner,  to  convey  to  the  immense 
and  agitated  assemblage,  in  motion  beneath  them, 
the  sentiments  which  he  wished  to  inspire  in  their 
bosoms,  toward  the  defenceless  person  of  the  Queen, 
and  the  innocent  child  whom  she  held  in  her  arms, 
he  stooped  and  kissed  her  hand.  A  cry  of  i  long  live 
the  Queen,  long  live  Lafayette,'  responded  to  the 
action.  Returning  to  the  royal  cabinet,  he  was  em 
braced  by  its  inmates  as  the  saviour  of  the  King  and 
his  family,  and  till  the  last  hour  of  their  unfortunate 
existence,  the  King  and  the  Queen  never  failed  to  do 
him  the  justice  to  acknowledge,  that  on  this  terrific 
day  he  had  saved  their  lives. 

From  the  commencement  of  the  Revolution,  La 
fayette  refused  all  pecuniary  compensation  and  every 
unusual  appointment  or  trust.  Not  a  dignity  known 
to  the  ancient  monarchy,  or  suggested  by  the  disor 
der  of  the  times,  but  was  tendered  to  him,  and  refus 
ed.  More  than  once,  it  was  proposed  to  create  him 
Field  Marshal,  Grand  Constable,  Lieutenant-General 
of  the  kingdom.  The  titles  of  Dictator,  and  Com 
mander-in-chief  of  the  armies  of  France,  were  succes 
sively  proposed  to  him,  but  in  vain.  Knowing  that  the 
representatives  of  the  great  federation  of  the  National 
Guards,  who  repaired  to  Paris  in  1790,  designed  to  in 
vest  him  with  the  formal  command  of  this  immense 
military  force,  he  hastened  the  passage  of  a  decree  of 
the  assembly,  forbidding  any  person  to  exercise  the 
command  of  more  than  one  district.  And  having,  at 
the  close  of  a  review,  been  conducted  to  the  national 


51 

assembly,  by  an  immense  and  enthusiastic  throng, 
he  took  that  occasion  to  mount  the  tribune  and  an 
nounce  the  intention  of  returning  to  private  life,  as 
soon  as  the  preparation  of  the  Constitution  should 
be  completed. 

When  the  feudal  system  was  established  in  Eu 
rope,  and  its  entire  population,  in  the  several  coun 
tries  into  which  it  was  divided,  was  organized  on 
a  military  principle,  the  various  posts  of  command 
were  dignified  with  appropriate  names.  All  the 
great  lords  were  barons,  and  according  to  their  posi 
tion  at  the  head  of  armies,  in  the  immediate  train  of 
the  King,  or  on  the  frontier,  they  were  dukes, 
counts,  and  marquises.  These  were  titles,  signifi 
cant  when  first  given,  and  in  themselves  harmless, 
when  considered  apart  from  the  hereditary  transmis 
sion  of  estates  and  rank,  which  in  process  of  time 
went  with  them.  But  having  long  since  ceased  to 
possess  their  original  significance,  with  the  first 
steps  of  the  Revolution,  their  frivolity  was  too  ap 
parent  to  be  endured.  There  was  a  sort  of  theatri 
cal  insipidity  in  these  curious  gradations  of  unmean 
ing  titles  among  men,  who,  in  difficult  times,  were 
met  together  on  serious  business ;  and  among  the 
early  measures  of  the  assembly  was  the  decree  pro 
nouncing  their  abolition.  Lafayette,  whose  patent 
of  nobility  had  at  least  the  merit  of  four  centuries  of 
antiquity,  was  among  the  first  to  support  the  propo 
sition,  and  lay  down  his  title  of  Marquis,  never  again 
to  be  resumed.  In  the  lapse  of  a  few  years,  the 
member  of  assembly,  who  proposed  the  abolition,  be- 


52 

came  a  count  under  Bonaparte,  and  those  who  were 
the  most  zealous  to  procure  its  adoption  lived  to  see 
themselves  blazing  in  the  decorations  of  the  imperial 
court.  But  neither  under  Napoleon  nor  the  restora 
tion,  did  it  enter  into  the  head  of  Lafayette  to  be 
guilty  of  this  weakness,  and  the  only  title  which  he 
wore  till  his  death,  was  that  which  he  first  derived 
from  his  commission  in  the  American  army. 

On  the  recurrence  of  the  anniversary  of  the  de 
struction  of  the  Bastile,  on  the  14th  July  1790,  the 
labors  of  the  assembly  in  the  formation  of  the  Con 
stitution  were  so  far  advanced,  that  it  was  deemed 
expedient,  by  a  grand  act  of  popular  ratification,  to 
give  the  sanction  of  France  to  the  principles  on 
which  it  was  founded.  The  place  assigned  for  the 
ceremony  is  the  Champ  de  Mars,  and  the  act  itself 
is  regarded  as  a  grand  act  of  federation,  by  which  the 
entire  population  of  France,  through  the  medium  of 
an  immense  representation,  engage  themselves  to 
each  other  by  solemn  oaths  and  imposing  rites,  to 
preserve  the  Constitution,  the  Monarchy,  and  the 
Law.  In  front  of  the  military  school  at  Paris,  and 
near  the  river  Seine,  a  vast  plain  is  marked  out  for 
the  imposing  pageant.  Innumerable  laborers  are 
employed  and  still  greater  multitudes  of  volunteers 
co-operate  with  them,  in  preparing  a  vast  embank 
ment  disposed  on  terraces,  and  covered  with  turf. 
The  entire  population  of  the  capital  and  its  environs, 
from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  condition  of  life,  of 
both  sexes  and  of  every  profession,  is  engaged  from 
day  to  day  and  from  week  to  week,  in  carrying  on 


53 

the  excavation.  The  academies  and  schools, — the 
official  bodies  of  every  description, — the  trades  and 
the  professions,  and  every  class  and  division  of  the 
people,  repair  from  morning  to  night  to  take  a  part 
in  the  work,  cheered  by  the  instruments  of  a  hundred 
full  orchestras,  and  animated  with  every  sport  and 
game,  in  which  an  excited  and  cheerful  populace 
gives  vent  to  its  delight.  It  was  the  perfect  saturna 
lia  of  liberty ; — the  meridian  of  the  Revolution,  when 
its  great  and  unquestioned  benefits  seemed  establish 
ed  on  a  secure  basis,  with  as  little  violence  and 
bloodshed,  as  could  be  reasonably  expected  in  the 
tumultuous  action  of  a  needy,  exasperated,  and  tri 
umphant  populace.  The  work  at  length  is  complet 
ed, — the  terraces  are  raised,  and  three  hundred 
thousand  spectators  are  seated  in  the  vast  amphi 
theatre.  A  gallery  is  elevated  in  front  of  the  mili 
tary  school,  and  in  its  centre  a  pavilion  above  the 
throne.  In  the  rear  of  the  pavilion  is  prepared  a 
stage,  on  which  the  Queen,  the  Dauphin  and  the 
royal  family  are  seated.  The  deputed  members  of 
the  federation,  eleven  thousand  for  the  army  and 
navy,  and  eighteen  thousand  for  the  National  Guard 
of  France,  are  arranged  in  front, — within  a  circle, 
formed  by  eighty-three  lances  planted  in  the  earth, 
adorned  with  the  standards  of  the  eighty-three  de 
partments.  In  the  midst  of  the  Champ  de  Mars,  the 
centre  of  all  eyes,  with  nothing  above  it  but  the 
canopy  of  heaven, — arose  a  magnificent  altar, — the 
loftiest  ever  raised  on  earth.  Two  hundred  priests 
in  white  surplices,  with  the  tri-color  as  a  girdle,  are 


54 

disposed  on  the  steps  of  the  altar ;  on  whose  spa 
cious  summit  mass  is  performed  by  the  bishop  of 
Autun.  On  the  conclusion  of  the  religious  ceremo 
ny,  the  members  of  the  federation  and  the  deputies 
of  the  assembly  advance  to  the  altar,  and  take  the 
oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Nation,  the  Constitution,  and 
the  King.  The  King  himself  assumes  the  name  and 
rank  of  chief  of  the  federation,  and  bestows  the  title 
of  its  Major-General  on  Lafayette.  The  King  took 
the  oath  on  his  throne,  but  Lafayette,  as  the  first 
citizen  of  France,  advancing  to  the  altar,  at  the 
head  of  thirty  thousand  deputies,  and  in  the  name 
of  the  mighty  mass  of  the  National  Guard,  amidst 
the  plaudits  of  near  half  a  million  of  his  fellow- 
citizens,  in  the  presence  of  all  that  was  most  illus 
trious  and  excellent  in  the  kingdom,  whose  organized 
military  power  he  represented  as  their  chief,  took 
the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Nation,  the  Constitution, 
and  the  King.  Of  all  the  oaths  that  day  taken, 
by  the  master  spirits  of  the  time,  his  was,  perhaps, 
the  only  one  kept  inviolate.  It  sealed  his  fidelity 
to  the  doubtful  fortunes  of  the  monarch,  and  in  the 
onward  march  of  the  Revolution, — destined  to  wade 
through  seas  of  blood, — it  raised  an  inseparable  bar 
rier  between  Lafayette  and  the  remorseless  innova 
tors,  who  soon  appeared  on  the  scene.  It  decided 
his  own  fortunes,  and  in  no  inconsiderable  degree 
the  fortunes  of  the  Revolution. 

The  beauty  of  this  great  festival  was  impaired  by 
a  drenching  rain,  and  the  general  joy,  with  which  it 
was  celebrated,  was  a  last  gleam  of  sunshine,  through 


55 

the  gathering  clouds  of  the  Revolution.  The  flight 
of  the  King,  which  occurred  the  following  summer, 
placed  Lafayette  in  an  embarrassing  position.  He 
was  determined  to  maintain  the  sanctity  of  his  oath 
of  fidelity  to  this  unfortunate  prince.  The  King  had 
given  his  word  of  honor  to  Lafayette,  that  he  would 
not  attempt  to  leave  the  capital ;  and  Lafayette  had 
in  consequence  pledged  his  own  honor, — his  head 
even, — to  the  assembly,  that  no  attempt  to  carry  off 
the  King  should  succeed.  Nevertheless,  on  the  night 
of  the  21st  of  June,  the  King  and  royal  family  suc 
ceeded  in  making  their  escape  from  Paris,  and  La 
fayette  was  denounced  the  same  day,  by  Danton,  at 
the  club  of  Jacobins,  as  being  either  a  traitor,  who 
had  allowed  the  King  to  escape  ; — or  as  incompetent 
to  his  trust,  in  not  knowing  how  to  prevent  it.  With 
the  moral  courage,  which  carried  him  safe  through 
so  many  fearful  days  of  peril,  Lafayette  presented 
himself,  calm  and  fearless,  before  the  incensed  multi 
tude,  and  made  his  good  faith  to  the  public  apparent. 
But  the  difficulties  of  his  position  daily  increased. 
He  was  alternately  compelled  to  strain  his  popularity 
to  the  utmost,  in  repressing  the  violence  of  the  pop 
ulace,  and  controlling  the  intrigues  of  the  partizans 
of  the  ancient  order  of  things.  Weary  of  this  situa 
tion,  he  deemed  the  definitive  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution  a  justifiable  occasion  for  laying  down  his 
ungracious  command,  and,  on  the  8th  of  October 
1791,  took  his  leave  of  the  National  Guard,  in  a 
letter,  which  would  have  done  no  discredit, — for  its 
patriotic  spirit  and  enlightened  counsels, — to  the 


56 

great  American  exemplar,  whom  he  had  adopted  as 
the  object  of  his  respectful  imitation. 

Hitherto  the  powers  of  Europe  had  looked  with 
astonishment  and  apparent  inactivity,  upon  the  por 
tentous  events,  that  were  crowding  upon  each  other 
in  France  ;  and  France  herself,  rent  with  factions, 
and  distracted  with  the  embarrassments  incident  to 
such  mighty  changes,  had  scarcely  turned  her  atten 
tion  to  the  foreign  relations  of  the  country.  In  this 
manner  five  years,  from  the  meeting  of  the  assembly 
of  Notables,  passed  away,  during  which  there  was 
unconsciously  forming  and  organizing  itself  at  home 
and  abroad,  the  principle  of  those  mighty  wars  which 
were  to  signalize  the  next  thirty  years.  From  the 
commencement  of  1792,  the  questions  which  arose 
between  the  French  and  Austrian  governments,  rel 
ative  to  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  empire  on 
the  border  of  France,  ripened  towards  a  rupture  ; 
and  strange  as  it  may  now  appear,  an  open  declara 
tion  of  hostilities  was  the  desire  of  all  the  numerous 
parties,  interests,  and  governments,  concerned  in  the 
issue.  The  King  of  France,  the  Queen  and  the  par- 
tizans  of  the  old  regime  generally,  at  home  ;  the 
Emperor,  and  the  other  sovereigns  of  Europe,  the 
emigrant  princes  and  nobles,  and  their  friends,  desir 
ed  a  war,  as  the  means  of  pouring  down  upon  the 
popular  party  of  France,  the  combined  military  pow 
ers  of  the  ancient  governments.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  leaders  of  all  the  factions  in  France  desired  not 
less  ardently  a  declaration  of  war,  as  the  means  of 
strengthening  their  power  by  the  organization  and 


57 

control  of  standing  armies,  and  gratifying  the  ambi 
tious,  the  avaricious,  the  needy,  and  the  adventurous 
in  their  ranks,  with  promotion  and  plunder.  The 
zealots  burned  with  the  vision  of  revolutionizing 
Europe.  The  honest  constitutional  party  alone  de 
precated  the  measure ;  but  even  they  were  bound 
by  their  oaths  to  take  arms  against  the  preposterous 
ultimatum  of  the  Austrian  cabinet,  which  required 
France  to  renounce  the  constitution  of  1791,  a  con 
stitution  which  the  King  and  people  had  alike  sworn 
to  defend.  And  thus  all  parties  strangely  rushed 
into  a  war,  destined  in  turn,  to  subvert,  crush,  and 
revolutionize,  with  indiscriminate  fury,  every  inter 
est,  party,  and  government  drawn  into  its  vortex. 

The  formal  declaration  of  war  was  made  by  Louis 
XVI.,  on  the  20th  of  March  1792.  Three  armies 
were  raised  to  guard  the  frontier  of  the  Netherlands, 
and  placed  under  the  command  of  Luckner,  an  an 
cient  chieftain  of  the  seven  years'  war,  Lafayette, 
and  Rochambeau.  The  united  force  was  fifty  thous 
and  men.  The  plan  of  operations  was  decided  by 
the  King  in  council  at  Paris,  in  conference  with  the 
three  generals,  who  immediately  took  the  field. 
The  political  intrigues  of  the  capital  were  not  slow 
in  reaching  the  camp.  The  Jacobins  at  Paris,  not 
yet  the  majority,  but  rapidly  becoming  so,  had  long 
marked  out  Lafayette  as  their  victim.  Orders  were 
sent  by  the  minister  of  war  designedly  to  embarrass 
and  disgust  him  ;  and  he  soon  found,  that  it  was  ne 
cessary  for  him  openly  to  denounce  the  Jacobins  to  the 
legislative  assembly  and  the  nation,  as  the  enemies 

H 


58 

of  the  country.  He  accordingly,  on  the  16th  of  June, 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  Assembly,  in  which  he 
proclaimed  this  faction  to  be  the  enemy  of  the  consti 
tution  and  the  people;  and  called  on  all  the  friends 
of  liberty  to  unite  for  its  suppression.  The  voice  of 
reason  for  a  moment  prevailed  ; — a  majority  of  the 
Assembly  received  with  approbation  the  letter  of 
Lafayette,  and  seventy-five  of  the  departments  of 
France,  in  their  local  assemblies,  gave  their  formal 
sanction  to  its  sentiments.  Braving  the  enemy  in 
his  strong  hold,  he  followed  up  his  letter,  by  hasten 
ing  to  Paris, — appearing  at  the  bar  of  the  Assembly, 
and  demanding  the  punishment  of  the  wretches,  who 
had  forced  the  Tuilleries,  and  menaced  and  insulted 
the  King,  the  preceding  week.  Anxious  for  the 
safety  of  the  King's  person,  he  proposed  to  him 
to  retire  to  Compiegne,  under  the  protection  of  his 
army,  and  there  await  the  issue  of  the  efforts  for  the 
suppression  of  the  Jacobins.  Incredihle  as  it  may 
appear,  these  proposals  were  rejected,  from  an  unwil 
lingness,  on  the  part  of  the  Queen,  to  owe  her  life  a 
second  time  to  Lafayette,  and  in  consequence  of 
the  advice  secretly  conveyed  to  the  court,  by  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick,  then  concentrating  his  army  on 
the  frontiers  ;  who  recommended  to  the  King  to 
remain  in  tranquillity  at  the  Tuilleries,  till  the  allied 
forces  should  hasten  to  his  relief. 

Lafayette  accordingly  returned  to  his  army,  de 
feated  in  the  last  efforts,  which  afforded  a  shadow  of 
hope,  for  the  safety  of  the  royal  family  or  the  preser 
vation  of  the  constitution.  On  the  8th  of  August  he 


59 

was  formally  denounced  in  the  Assembly,  as  an 
enemy  of  his  country,  and  a  motion  made  for  his 
arrest  and  trial.  After  vehement  debates,  it  was  put 
to  vote,  and  resulted  in  his  acquittal  by  a  majority 
of  407  to  224.  But  many  of  those  who  voted  in  his 
favor  were,  on  the  following  day,  insulted  by  the 
populace.  Baffled  in  the  attempt  to  destroy  him,  and 
in  him  the  last  support  of  the  constitutional  monarchy, 
and  weary  of  the  tardy  march  of  their  infernal  policy, 
the  Jacobins  at  Paris  resolved,  without  further  delay, 
to  intimidate  the  majority  of  the  Assembly  and  the 
constitutional  party  throughout  the  country,  and  by 
a  frightful  measure  of  violence  and  blood,  establish 
the  reign  of  terror.  Accordingly  the  horrid  tragedy 
of  the  10th  of  August  is  enacted, — the  palace  forced 
by  the  army  of  assassins, — its  guards  massacred,  and 
the  King  and  the  royal  family  driven  to  take  refuge 
in  the  Assembly,  by  which,  after  suffering  every  thing 
that  was  distressing,  humiliating,  and  cruel,  he  is 
deposed,  and  ordered  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  temple. 
The  news  of  these  events  reached  Lafayette  at  his 
head-quarters  in  Sedan.  He  had  sworn  to  support 
the  Constitution,  and  to  be  faithful  to  the  King. 
The  assembly, — the  capital — the  people, — the  army 
were  struck  with  dismay  ; — the  horrid  scenes  of  Paris 
were  acted  over  in  the  departments,  and  the  reign  of 
terror  was  established.  Commissioners  were  sent 
by  the  Assembly  to  the  army  to  arrest  the  generals ; 
— it  remained  to  Lafayette  to  anticipate  them  by  an 
attack  on  the  enemy,  which,  if  successful,  would  but 
put  new  strength  in  the  hands  of  Robespierre  and  his 


60 

associates,  to  march  on  Paris,  which  in  the  present 
state  of  feeling  in  the  nation  and  in  the  army  was  to 
deliver  himself  up  to  his  executioners,— or  to  save 
himself  by  flight.  Happily  he  adopted  the  latter 
course,  and  having  placed  his  army  in  the  best  con 
dition  possible,  to  receive  no  injury  from  his  leaving 
it,  he  passed  with  a  few  of  his  friends  and  aids, 
across  the  frontier,  intending  to  repair  to  Holland 
or  England,  countries  not  as  yet  engaged  in  the  war. 
While  in  the  territory  of  Liege,  he  fell  into  the  hands 
of  an  Austrian  military  force,  and  notwithstanding 
the  circumstances  under  which  he  had  left  his  army 
and  France,  was  treated  as  a  prisoner.  Various 
unworthy  attempts  were  made  to  engage  Lafayette 
in  the  service  of  the  armies  marching  against  France, 
and  to  draw  from  him  information  which  would  be  of 
use  in  the  approaching  campaign.  Refusing  to  act  the 
treacherous  part  proposed  to  him,  he  was  handed  over 
to  the  Prussian  government,  and  dragged  from  for 
tress  to  fortress,  till  he  was  thrown  into  the  dungeons 
of  Magdeburg.  The  secrets  of  that  horrid  prison- 
house  have  been  laid  open  to  the  world.  Lafayette 
was  there  confined  in  a  subterraneous  vault, — dark, 
— damp, — and  secured  by  four  successive  doors,  load 
ed  with  bolts  and  chains.  But  the  arms  of  the 
Duke  of  Brunswick  are  unsuccessful  in  France.  On 
the  heights  of  Valmy  the  first  of  those  victories  of 
revolutionary  fame,  which  have  astonished  and  ter 
rified  the  world,  is  gained  over  the  Prussian  army. 
Negotiations  for  peace  are  concluded,  and  the  ex 
change  of  prisoners  is  in  progress.  To  evade  the 


61 

necessity  of  releasing  Lafayette  and  his  companions, 
he  is  transferred  by  the  King  of  Prussia  to  the  Em 
peror  of  Germany,  and  immured  in  the  castle  of 
Olmiitz,  in  Moravia.  On  entering  this  prison,  La 
fayette  and  his  fellow  sufferers  were  told,  that  'from 
that  time  forward  they  would  see  nothing,  but  the 
four  walls  within  which  they  were  enclosed ;  that 
no  tidings  would  reach  them  of  what  was  passing 
without ;  that  not  even  their  gaolers  would  pronounce 
their  names  ;  that  when  mentioned  in  the  despatches 
of  the  government,  it  would  only  be  by  their  num 
bers  on  the  register  ;  that  no  intelligence  would  pass 
from  them  to  their  families,  nor  from  their  families  to 
them  ;  and  that,  to  prevent  their  seeking  relief  from 
the  slow  agonies  of  this  torture,  they  would  be  inter 
dicted  the  use  of  knives  or  forks,  and  every  other 
instrument  of  self-destruction.' 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  state  that  the  health  of 
Lafayette  sunk,  before  long,  under  this  barbarous 
treatment.  After  a  thrice  repeated  opinion  on  the 
part  of  his  physician,  that  he  could  not  live  unless 
permitted  to  breathe  a  purer  air  than  that  of  his  dun 
geon,  and  after  answering  the  first  application  by  the 
remark,  that  'he  was  not  yet  sick  enough,'  the 
court  of  Vienna,  either  touched  with  remorse,  or 
shaking  before  the  outcry  of  public  indignation,  in 
Europe  and  America,  granted  him  permission  to 
take  exercise  abroad  under  an  armed  escort,  but  not 
on  condition  that  he  would  not  attempt  his  escape, 
as  was  falsely  asserted  by  his  calumniators. 

This  opportunity  of  taking  the   air  abroad  gave 


62 

occasion  for  a  bold  and  generous  effort  to  effect  his 
liberation.  His  friends  had,  from  the  first  moment 
of  his  captivity,  had  this  object  at  heart ;  but  after 
his  removal  to  Olmiitz,  they  remained  for  a  long 
time  ignorant  of  the  place  of  his  captivity.  The 
Count  Lally  Tolendal,  who,  notwithstanding  their 
difference  of  opinion  in  politics,  had  ever  preserved 
his  personal  respect  and  attachment  for  Lafayette, 
spared  no  pains  to  discover  the  place  of  his  seclusion. 
He  employed  for  this  purpose,  a  young  Hanoverian 
physician,  Dr.  Eric  Bollmann,  afterwards  a  natural 
ized  citizen  of  the  United  States,  who  had  signalized 
himself  in  effecting  the  escape  ofM.  de  Narbonne 
from  Paris,  after  the  dreadful  10th  of  August  1792.* 
Dr.  Bollmann  immediately  undertook  a  voyage  of 
enquiry  into  Germany,  but  could  learn  only  that 
Lafayette  had  been  transferred  from  the  Prussian, 
to  the  Austrian  dominions.  On  a  second  visit  to 
Germany,  made  in  the  same  benevolent  object,  he 
succeeded  in  ascertaining,  that  there  were  four  state 
prisoners  confined,  with  extreme  rigor,  in  separate 
cells  at  Olmiitz,  which  he  had  no  reason  to  doubt 
were  Lafayette  and  his  companions.  He  immedi 
ately  devoted  himself  to  the  object  of  effecting  his 
liberation.  He  established  himself  for  six  months  as 
a  physician  at  Vienna,  to  prevent  the  suspicions, 
which  might  be  awakened  by  an  unprepared  appear 
ance  in  the  Austrian  dominions,  in  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  Olmiitz.  While  engaged  in  con- 

*  Considerations  surla  Revolution  Fransaise,  par  Mad.  de  Stael.    Tome 
I.  p.  67. 


63 

Certing  his  plans,  Mr.  Huger,  of  South  Carolina,  the 
son  of  the  gentleman  under  whose  roof  Lafayette 
passed  his  first  night  in  America,  happened  to  arrive 
at  Vienna  on  his  travels,  and  engaged  with  cordiality 
in  the  generous  enterprise  of  Dr.  Bollrnann. 

They  repaired  at  length  to  Olmiitz.  Dr.  Boll- 
mann  had  contrived  to  obtain  letters  at  Vienna, 
which  obtained  him  the  means,  in  his  professional 
character,  of  secretly  communicating  with  Lafayette, 
and  agreeing  upon  a  signal,  by  which  he  might  be 
recognized  by  the  two  friends, — and  ascertaining  the 
day  when  he  would  be  permitted  to  take  exercise 
abroad.  On  that  day  they  repaired,  on  their  horses, 
to  a  place  under  the  ramparts  of  the  city,  on  the  road 
by  which  Lafayette  and  his  guards  would  pass. 
The  carriage  soon  arrives,  containing  Lafayette,  an 
officer  and  a  soldier.  The  friends  allow  it  to  pass 
them,  that  they  may  exchange  the  signal  agreed  up 
on.  This  being  done,  they  again  pass  forward  in 
advance  of  the  carriage,  toward  a  spot  where  Lafay 
ette  was  accustomed  to  descend  and  walk.  The 
moment  he  set  his  foot  on  the  ground,  Lafayette, 
unarmed  as  he  was,  fell  upon  his  two  guards.  The 
soldier,  disarmed  and  terrified,  instantly  fled  to  the 
city  to  report  what  had  happened.  The  contest 
with  the  officer  was  violent.  Lafayette  succeeded  in 
depriving  him  of  his  sword,  but  in  the  contest  the  offi 
cer,  with  his  teeth,  tore  the  hand  of  Lafayette  to 
the  bone.  He  also  suffered  a  violent  strain  in  his 
back  in  consequence  of  his  exertions.  The  two 
friends  came  up  at  the  moment  of  the  struggle,  and 


64 

placing  Lafayette  on  one  of  their  horses,  Mr.  Huger 
told  him  in  English  to  go  to  Hqff.  This  was  a  post 
town,  about  twenty  miles  from  Olmiitz,  where  they 
had  prepared  a  travelling  carriage.  He  mistook  the 
expression,  as  merely  a  direction  to  go  off,  and  failed 
consequently  to  take  the  proper  road. 

One  of  the  horses  of  Messrs.  Bollmann  and  Huger 
was  trained  to  carry  two  persons ;  the  other  horse, 
on  which  Lafayette  was  to  be  mounted,  unfortunate 
ly  escaped  in  the  confusion  of  the  struggle.  It  be 
came  necessary  therefore  that  he  should  mount  the 
horse  destined  for  the  two  friends,  and  on  their  ur 
gent  solicitation,  he  rode  forward  alone,  while  they 
remained  behind  to  retake  their  horse.  Some  time 
was  lost  in  effecting  this  object,  and  when  mounted 
by  Messrs.  Bollmann  and  Huger  he  proved  intracta 
ble,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  make  him 
proceed.  Mr.  Huger  generously  insisted  on  Dr. 
Bollmann's  riding  off  alone,  while  he  should  make 
his  escape,  as  well  as  he  could,  on  foot.  Mr.  Huger 
was  soon  stopped  by  some  peasants  who  had  wit 
nessed  the  scene,  and  handed  over  to  the  officers  and 
guards,  who  hastened  in  pursuit.  Dr.  Bollmann  ar 
rived  with  ease  at  Hoff,  but  there  had  the  mortifica 
tion  to  find  that  Lafayette  was  prevented  by  some 
cause,  at  that  time  unknown,  from  joining  him.  He 
passed  the  Prussian  frontier,  but  was  arrested  in  a 
day  or  two,  as  an  Austrian  fugitive. 

It  was  almost  night  when  these  events  took  place. 
Lafayette  was  oppressed  with  pain  and  fatigue.  Be 
ing  left  alone,  from  the  causes  mentioned,  he  was 


65 

not  only  at  a  loss  what  direction  to  take,  but  was  in 
a  state  of  the  most  painful  anxiety  for  the  fate  of  his 
generous  liberators.  He  proceeded  towards  the  fron 
tier,  on  the  road  by  which  he  had  entered  Moravia, 
intending  to  secrete  himself  there ;  and  if  Messrs. 
Bollmann  and  Huger  should  be  in  prison,  to  give 
himself  up,  on  condition  of  their  release.  Not  well 
knowing  the  road,  he  requested  a  peasant  to  guide 
him.  His  broken  German,  the  blood  with  which  he 
was  covered,  and  the  condition  of  his  clothing,  suffi 
ciently  betrayed  his  character.  The  peasant  left 
him,  pretending  to  go  in  search  of  a  horse,  on  which 
to  accompany  him,  but  in  reality  to  give  the  alarm 
at  the  next  town,  where  he  was  arrested.  The 
following  day  he  was  brought  back  to  Olmiitz.* 

Bollmann  and  Huger  were  thrown  into  close  dun 
geons,  and  chained  by  the  neck  to  the  floor.  Mr. 
Huger  asked  permission  to  send  an  open  letter  to  his 
mother,  containing  the  words  '  I  am  alive,'  and  noth 
ing  else,  but  he  was  refused.  He  was  left  in  the 
most  distressing  uncertainty  as  to  the  fate  of  Lafay 
ette  and  his  companion,  and  could  form  only  the 
darkest  anticipations  of  his  own.  His  food  was 
bread  and  water.  His  cell  was  dark ; — and  once  in 
six  hours  it  was  entered  by  the  gaoler,  to  see  that  his 
chain  was  sound.  After  six  months'  confinement, 
their  case  was  adjudged,  and  owing  to  the  kind  in 
terference  of  Count  Metrowsky,  a  nobleman  of  liberal 
character  and  great  influence,  who  found  in  their 

*  A  portion  of  these  details  are  from  an  unpublished  letter  of  Latour- 
Maubourg,  one  of  the  companions  of  Lafayette  in  captivity,  preserved 
among  the  Washington  papers. 

I 


66 

crime  but  a  new  title  to  respect,  they  were  released 
with  a  nominal  punishment,  and  ordered  to  quit  the 
Austrian  dominions.  Scarcely  were  they  at  liberty, 
when  an  order  was  issued  for  the  re-investigation  of 
their  case  ;  but  they  were  already  in  safety  beyond 
the  frontier. 

The  treatment  of  Lafayette,  after  his  re-capture, 
was  doubly  severe.  On  his  first  entrance  into  the 
prison  at  Olmiitz,  he  had  been  plundered  of  his  watch 
and  shoe-buckles,  the  only  articles  of  value,  which 
the  Prussians  had  left  in  his  possession.  But  on  his 
return  to  his  dungeon  he  was  stripped  of  the  few 
comforts  of  life,  which  he  had  been  before  permitted 
to  enjoy.  He  was  kept  in  a  dark  room,  denied  a 
supply  of  decent  clothing,  and  fed  on  bread  and 
water.  He  was  constantly  told,  as  he  was  the  first 
day  of  his  capture  by  the  Austrians,  that  he  was 
reserved  for  the  scaffold. 

But  whatever  anxiety  he  might  feel  on  his  own 
account,  was  merged  in  his  cruel  solicitude  for  his 
family.  No  tidings  were  permitted  to  reach  him 
from  his  wife  and  children,  and  the  last  intelligence 
he  had  received  from  her  was,  that  she  was  confined 
in  prison  at  Paris.  There  she  had  been  thrown 
during  the  reign  of  terror.  Her  grandmother,  the 
Dutchess  de  Noailles,  her  mother  the  Dutchess 
d'Ayen,  and  her  sister  the  Countess  de  Noailles,  had 
perished  in  one  day  on  the  scaffold.  She  was  her 
self  reserved  for  the  like  fate  ;  but  the  downfal  of  Ro 
bespierre  preserved  her.  During  her  imprisonment, 
her  great  anxiety  was  for  her  son,  George  Washington 
Lafayette,  then  just  attaining  the  age,  at  which  he 


67 

was  liable  to  be  forced  by  the  conscription  into  the 
ranks  of  the  army.  The  friendly  assistance  of  two 
of  our  fellow-citizens,  whom  I  have  the  pleasure  to 
see  before  me,  Mr.  Joseph  Russell  and  Col.  Thomas 
H.  Perkins,  was  exerted  in  his  behalf;  and  in  conse 
quence  of  their  influence  with  JBoissy  d'  Anglas,  then 
a  member  of  the  Committee  of  Safety,  they  succeeded 
in  obtaining  permission  for  his  departure.  He  was 
conveyed  by  Mr.  Russell  to  Havre,  whence  he  took 
passage  to  Boston,  and  after  a  month  spent  in  this 
city,  was  received  into  the  family  of  General  Wash 
ington  at  Mount  Vernon,  where  he  remained  till  the 
liberation  of  his  father.* 

Relieved  from  anxiety  on  account  of  her  son,  the 
wife  of  Lafayette  was  resolved,  with  her  daughters, 
if  possible,  to  share  his  captivity.  Just  escaped  from 
the  dungeons  of  Robespierre,  she  hastened  to  plunge 
into  those  of  the  German  Emperor.  This  admirable 
lady,  who,  in  the  morning  of  life,  had  sent  her  youth 
ful  hero  from  her  side,  to  fight  the  battles  of  constitu 
tional  freedom,  beneath  the  guidance  of  Washington, 
now  goes  to  immure  herself  with  him  in  the  gloomy 
cells  of  Olmiitz.  Born,  brought  up,  accustomed  to 
all  that  was  refined,  luxurious  and  elegant,  she  goes 
to  shut  herself  up  in  the  poisonous  wards  of  his  dun 
geon, — to  partake  his  wretched  fare  ; — to  share  his 
daily  repeated  insults  ; — to  breathe  an  atmosphere  so 
noxious  and  intolerable,  that  the  gaolers,  who  bring 
them  their  daily  food,  are  compelled  to  cover  their 
faces,  as  they  enter  their  cells. 

*  The  letter  of  Lafayette  to  Colonel  Perkins,  written  in  acknowledg 
ment  of  these  services,  immediately  after  his  liberation,  is  before  me. 


68 

Landing  at  Altona  on  the  9th  September  1795, 
she  proceeded  with  an  American  passport,  under  the 
family  name  of  her  husband  (Motier),  to  Vienna. 
Having  arrived  in  that  city,  she  obtains  through  the 
compassionate  good  offices  of  Count  Rosemberg,  an 
interview  with  the  Emperor.     Francis  II.  is  not  a 
cruel  man.     At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  has  not 
yet  been  hardened  by  long  training  in  the  school 
of  state   policy.     He  is  a   husband   and  a  father. 
The  heroic  wife  of  Lafayette,  with  her  daughters,  is 
admitted   to   his   presence.     She  demands  only  to 
share   her  husband's  prison,  but   she  implores  the 
Emperor  to  restore  to  liberty  the  father  of  her  chil 
dren.     '  He  was  indeed,  Sire,  a  general  in  the  armies 
of  republican  America ;  but  it  was  at  a  time  when 
the  daughter  of  Maria  Theresa  was  foremost  in  his 
praise.     He  was  indeed  a  leader  of  the  French  Rev 
olution,  but  not  in  its  excesses,   not  in  its  crimes  ; 
and  it  was  owing  to  him  alone,  that  on  the  dreadful 
5th  of  October,  Marie  Antoinette  and  her  son  had 
not  been  torn  in  pieces  by  the  blood-thirsty  populace 
of  Paris.     He  is  not  the  prisoner  of  your  justice,  nor 
your  arms,  but  was  thrown  by  misfortune  into  your 
power,  when  he  fled  before  the  same  monsters  of 
blood  and  crime,  who  brought  the  king  and  queen  to 
the  scaffold.     Three  of  my  family  have  perished  on 
the  same  scaffold,  my  aged  grand-parent,  my  mother, 
and  my  sister.     Will  the  Emperor  of  Germany  close 
the  dark  catalogue,  and  doom  my  husband  to  a  dun 
geon  worse  than  death  ?     Restore  him,  Sire,  not  to 
his  army,  to  his  power,  to  his  influence,  but  to  his 


69 

shattered  health,  his  ruined  fortunes, — to  the  affec 
tions  of  his  fellow-citizens  in  America,  where  he  is 
content  to  go  and  close  his  career, — to  his  wife  and 
children.' 

The  Emperor  is  a  humane  man.  He  hears,  con 
siders,  reasons,  hesitates  ; — tells  her  '  his  hands  are 
tied,'*  by  reasons  of  state,  and  permits  her  to  shut 
herself  up,  with  her  daughters,  in  the  cells  of  Olmiitz  ! 
There  her  health  soon  fails  ;  she  asks  to  be  permitted 
to  pass  a  month  at  Vienna,  to  recruit  it,  and  is  an 
swered,  that  she  may  leave  the  prison  whenever  she 
pleases,  but  if  she  leaves  it,  it  is  never  again  to  re 
turn.  On  this  condition,  she  rejects  the  indulgence 
with  disdain,  and  prepares  herself  to  sink,  under  the 
slow  poison  of  an  infected  atmosphere,  by  her  hus 
band's  side.  But  her  brave  heart, — fit  partner  for  a 
hero's, — bore  her  through  the  trial ; — though  the 
hand  of  death  was  upon  her.  She  prolonged  a 
feeble  existence  for  ten  years,  after  their  release 
from  captivity,  but  never  recovered  the  effects  of  this 
merciless  imprisonment. 

The  interposition  of  the  friends  of  Lafayette  in 
Europe  and  America,  to  obtain  his  release,  was 
unsuccessful.  On  the  floor  of  the  House  of  Com 
mons,  General  Fitzpatrick,  on  the  16th  of  December 
1796,  made  a  motion  in  his  behalf.  It  was  supported 
by  Colonel  Tarleton,  who  had  fought  against  Lafay- 

*  This  remark  of  the  Emperor  was  the  subject  of  severe  reflection  in 
the  admirable  speech,  in  which  Mr.  Fox  endeavored  to  induce  the  British 
ministry  to  interfere  for  the  liberation  of  Lafayette  ;  for  while  the  Emperor 
had  given  this  reason  for  not  releasing  him,  the  British  minister  pleaded 
his  inability  to  interfere  with  the  internal  concerns  of  the  German  Empire. 


70 

ette  in  America,  by  Wilberforce,  and  Fox.  The 
speech  of  the  latter  is  one  of  the  most  admirable 
specimens  of  eloquence,  ever  heard  in  a  deliberative 
assembly.  But  justice  remonstrated,  humanity 
pleaded  in  vain.  General  Washington,  then  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
Emperor  of  Germany.  What  would  not  the  Em 
peror  afterwards  have  given,  to  have  had  the  wis 
dom  to  grant  the  liberty  of  Lafayette  to  the  entreaty 
of  Washington  !  An  advocate  was  at  hand,  who 
would  not  be  refused.  The  Man  of  Destiny  was 
in  the  field.  The  Archduke  Charles,  was  matched 
against  him,  during  the  campaign  of  1797.  The 
eagles  of  Bonaparte  flew  from  victory  to  victory. 
The  Archduke  displayed  against  him  all  the  resources 
of  the  old  school.  But  the  days  of  strategy  were 
over.  Bonaparte  stormed  upon  his  front,  threw  his 
army  across  deep  rivers,  and  burst  upon  his  rear, — 
and  annihilated  the  astonished  Archduke  in  the  midst 
of  his  manoeuvres.  He  fought  ten  pitched  battles  in 
twenty  days,  drove  the  Austrians  across  the  Julian 
Alps,  approached  within  eleven  days  march  of  Vienna, 
and  then  granted  the  Emperor,  just  preparing  for  flight 
into  the  recesses  of  Hungary,  the  treaty  of  Campio 
Formio,  having  demanded  in  the  preliminary  confer 
ences  of  Leoben,  the  release  of  Lafayette.*  Napo 
leon  was  often  afterwards  heard  to  say,  that  in  all  his 
negotiations  with  foreign  powers,  he  had  never  ex- 

*  Sir  Walter  Scott,  by  a  somewhat  singular  inadvertence,  states  that 
Lafayette  was  released  19th  December  1795,  in  exchange  for  the  daughter 
of  Louis  XVI.,  afterwards  Dutchess  of  Angouleme.  Life  of  Napoleon, 
Vol.1.  Ch.  13. 


71 

perienced  so  pertinacious  a  resistance,  as  that  which 
was  made  to  this  demand.  The  Austrian  envoys,  at 
the  French  head-quarters,  asserted  that  he  was  not 
in  confinement  in  the  imperial  territories.  But 
Bonaparte  distrusted  this  assertion,  and  sent  a  formrer 
aid-de-camp  of  Lafayette  to  Vienna,  to  communicate 
directly  with  the  Austrian  minister  on  the  subject. 
He  was  finally  released  on  the  23d  September  1797. 
But  while  his  liberation  was  effected  by  the  interfer 
ence  of  the  army  of  the  Republic  abroad,  the  confis 
cation  and  sale  of  the  residue  of  his  property  went 
on  at  home. 

Included  in  the  general  decree  of  outlawry,  as  an 
emigrant,  Lafayette  did  not  go  back  to  France,  till 
the  directory  was  overturned.  On  the  establishment 
of  the  consular  government,  being  restored  to  his 
civil  rights,  though  with  the  loss  of  nearly  all  his  es 
tates,  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  and  sought 
the  retirement  of  Lagrange.  He  was  indebted  to 
Napoleon  for  release  from  captivity,  probably  for  the 
lives  of  himself  and  family.  He  could  not  but  see 
that  all  hope  of  restoring  the  constitution  of  1791,  to 
which  he  had  pledged  his  faith,  was  over,  and  he  had 
every  reason  of  interest  and  gratitude,  to  compound 
with  the  state  of  things  as  it  existed.  But  he  never 
wavered  for  a  moment.  Bonaparte  endeavored,  in  a 
personal  interview,  to  persuade  him  to  enter  the  sen 
ate,  but  in  vain.  When  the  question  was  submitted 
to  the  people  of  France,  whether  Bonaparte  should 
'be  first  consul  for  life,  Lafayette  gave  his  vote  in  the 
negative,  in  a  letter  to  Napoleon,  which  has  been 


72 

published.  Of  all  the  ancient  nobility,  who  returned 
to  France,  Lafayette  and  the  young  Count  de 
Vaudreuil  were  the  only  individuals,  who  refused  the 
favors,  which  Napoleon  was  eager  to  accord  to  them. 
Of  all  to  whom  the  cross  of  the  legion  of  honor  was 
tendered,  Lafayette  alone  had  the  courage  to  decline 
it.  Napoleon,  either  for  want  of  true  perception  of 
moral  greatness,  or  because  the  detestable  servility  of 
the  mass  of  returning  emigrants  had  taught  him  to 
think,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  honor  or  indepen 
dence  in  man,  exclaimed,  when  they  told  him  that 
Lafayette  refused  the  decoration,  'What,  will  nothing 
satisfy  that  man,  but  the  chief  command  of  the 
National  Guard  of  the  empire?5  Yes,  much  less 
abundantly  satisfied  him  ; — the  quiet  possession  of 
the  poor  remnants  of  his  estate,  enjoyed  without 
sacrificing  his  principles. 

From  this  life  nothing  could  draw  him.  Mr. 
Jefferson  offered  him  the  place  of  Governor  of  Lou 
isiana,  then  just  become  a  territory  of  the  United 
States ;  but  he  was  unwilling,  by  leaving  France,  to 
take  a  step,  that  would  look  like  a  final  abandonment 
of  the  cause  of  constitutional  liberty  on  the  continent 
of  Europe.  Napoleon  ceased  to  importune  him,  and 
he  lived  at  Lagrange,  retired  and  unmolested,  the 
only  man,  who  had  gone  through  the  terrible  revolu 
tion,  with  a  character  free  from  every  just  impeach 
ment.  He  entered  it  with  a  princely  fortune  ;• — in 
the  various  high  offices  which  he  had  filled  he  had 
declined  all  compensation  ; — and  he  came  out  poor. 
He  entered  it,  in  the  meridian  of  early  manhood, 


73 

with  a  frame  of  iron.  He  came  out  of  it,  fifty  years 
of  age,  his  strength  impaired  by  the  cruelties  of  his 
long  imprisonment.  He  had  filled  the  most  power 
ful  and  responsible  offices ;  and  others,  still  more  pow 
erful, — the  dictatorship  itself, — had  been  offered  him  ; 
— he  was  reduced  to  obscurity  and  private  life.  He 
entered  the  Revolution,  with  a  host  of  ardent  col 
leagues  of  the  constitutional  party.  Of  those  who 
escaped  the  guillotine,  most  had  made  peace  with 
Napoleon ;  not  a  few  of  the  Jacobins  had  taken  his 
splendid  bribes  ; — the  emigrating  nobility  came  back 
in  crowds,  and  put  on  his  livery ;  fear,  interest, 
weariness,  amazement,  and  apathy  reigned  in  France 
and  in  Europe  ; — kings,  emperors,  armies,  nations, 
bowed  at  his  footstool ; — and  one  man  alone, — a  pri 
vate  man,  who  had  tasted  power  and  knew  what 
he  sacrificed  ; — who  had  inhabited  dungeons,  and 
knew  what  he  risked  ; — who  had  done  enough  for 
liberty,  in  both  worlds,  to  satisfy  the  utmost  requisi 
tions  of  her  friends,  this  man  alone  stood  aloof  in  his 
honor,  his  independence, — and  his  poverty.  And  if 
there  is  a  man  in  this  assembly,  that  would  not  rath 
er  have  been  Lafayette  to  refuse,  than  Napoleon  to 
bestow  his  wretched  gewgaws  ;  that  would  not  rath 
er  have  been  Lafayette  in  retirement,  and  obscurity, 
and  just  not  proscribed,  than  Napoleon  with  an  em 
peror  to  hold  his  stirrup ; — if  there  is  a  man,  who 
would  not  have  preferred  the  honest  poverty  of  La- 
grange  to  the  bloody  tinsel  of  St.  Cloud  ; — that  would 
not  rather  have  shared  the  peaceful  fireside  of  the 
friend  of  Washington,  than  have  spurred  his  trium- 


74 

phant  courser  over  the  crushed  and  blackened  heaps 
of  slain,  through  the  fire  and  carnage  of  Marengo 
and  Austerlitz,  that  man  has  not  an  American  heart 
in  his  bosom.  That  man  is  a  slave,  and  fit  to  be  the 
father  of  slaves.  He  does  not  deserve  to  breathe  the 
pure  air,  to  drink  the  cold  springs,  to  tread  the  green 
fields,  and  hear  the  sabbath  bells  of  a  free  country. 
He  ought,  with  all  his  garters,  ribbons,  and  stars 
upon  him,  to  be  bolted  down,  with  a  golden  chain, 
to  the  blazing  pavement  of  a  palace  court  yard,  that 
when  his  lord  and  master  goes  out  to  the  hunt  of 
beasts  or  of  men,  he  may  be  there, — the  slave, — to 
crouch  down,  and  let  his  majesty  vault  from  his 
shoulders  to  the  saddle. 

But  the  time  at  length  arrived  which  was  to  call 
Lafayette  from  his  retirement,  and  place  him  again, 
— the  veteran  pilot, — at  the  helm.  The  colossal 
edifice  of  empire,  which  had  been  reared  by  Napo 
leon,  crumbled  by  its  own  weight.  The  pride,  the 
interests,  the  vanity,  the  patriotism,  of  the  nations, 
were  too  deeply  insulted  and  wounded  by  his  domi 
nation.  In  the  ancient  world, — or  in  the  middle 
ages, — whose  examples  he  too  much  studied,  his 
dynasty  would  have  stood  for  centuries.  He  wrould 
have  founded  an  empire,  as  durable  as  that  of  Cesar 
or  Mahomet,  had  he,  like  them,  lived  in  an  age,  when 
there  was  but  one  centre  of  civilization,  and  when 
it  was  possible  for  one  mighty  focus  of  power,  to 
draw  into  itself  all  the  intelligence  and  capacity  of 
the  world.  But  the  division  of  civilized  man  into 
several  co-existing  national  systems, — all,  in  the 


75 

main,  equally  enlightened  and  intelligent, — each 
having  its  own  pride, — its  own  patriotism, — its  own 
public  opinion, — created  an  obstacle  too  powerful  for 
the  genius  of  Napoleon  ; — too  strong  for  his  arm  ;  too 
various,  too  widely  complicated  for  his  skill ; — too 
sturdy  for  his  gold.  Accordingly  his  mighty  system 
went  to  pieces.  The  armies  of  insulted  and  maddened 
Europe  poured  down  like  an  inundation  on  France. 
It  was  then  that  Lafayette  appeared  again  upon  the 
scene.  His  '  well  known  voice,'  never  silent  when 
there  was  danger,  and  hope  for  the  cause  of  liberty, 
is  heard,  clear  and  strong,  amidst  the  tumult  of  inva 
ding  armies  and  contending  factions.  When,  after 
the  disaster  of  Waterloo,  Napoleon  came  back  in 
desperation  to  Paris,  and  began  to  scatter  dark  hints 
of  dissolving  the  representative  chamber,  repeating 
at  Paris  the  catastrophe  of  Moscow,  and  thereby 
endeavoring  to  rouse  the  people  of  France  to  one 
universal  and  frantic  crusade  of  resistance,  Lafayette 
was  the  first  to  denounce  the  wild  suggestion.  He 
proposed  a  series  of  resolutions,  announcing  that  the 
independence  of  the  nation  was  threatened,  declaring 
the  chambers  a  permanent  body,  and  denouncing  the 
instant  penalties  of  high  treason  against  all  attempts 
to  dissolve  it.  The  same  evening  he  proposed,  in 
the  secret  assembly  of  the  council  of  state,  the  abdi 
cation  of  Napoleon.  The  subject  was  again  pressed 
the  following  day  ;  but  the  voluntary  act  of  the 
Emperor  anticipated  the  decision.  Thus,  true  to  the 
cause,  to  which  his  life  was  sacred,  Lafayette  was 
found  at  the  tribune,  in  the  secret  council,  before  the 


76 

assembled  populace,  and  as  the  deputed  representa 
tive  of  his  distracted  country  in  the  camp  of  the  in 
vading  enemy, — every  where,  in  short,  except  where 
places  of  precedence  were  courted, — and  money 
greedily  clutched.  Unhappily  for  France,  all,  who 
were  thrown  in  the  troubled  state  of  the  times  to  the 
head  of  affairs,  were  not  of  the  same  stamp.  Men, 
who  in  the  horrible  national  convention  had  voted  for 
the  death  of  Louis  XVI., — men,  who  had  stimulated 
and  executed  the  worst  measures  of  Napoleon, — who 
had  shot  the  arrows  of  his  police  in  the  dark,  and  whet 
ted  the  glittering  sabre  of  his  conquests  ;  and  now 
that  he  was  in  the  dust,  bravely  trod  upon  his  neck ; 
these  were  the  instruments,  the  confidants,  the  favor 
ites  of  the  allied  powers,  and  of  the  monarch  whom 
they  installed  over  reluctant  France.  There  was 
of  course,  no  place  for  Lafayette  among  men  like 
these.  He  was  not  with  them  in  the  Revolution, 
and  could  not  be  with  them  in  the  Restoration.  He 
was  too  old  to  make  new  acquaintances.  There  was 
room  in  the  cabinet  and  palace  of  Louis  XVIII.  for 
men,  that  were  stained  with  the  best  blood  of  France, 
not  excepting  his  brother's  ; — there  was  room  for  his 
grace  the  Duke  of  Otranto,  room  for  his  highness 
the  Prince  of  Benevento  ;  but  there  was  no  room  for 
the  man  to  whom  it  was  more  than  once  owing,  that 
his  brother's  blood  and  his  own  had  not  flowed  to 
gether  in  the  streets  of  Paris. 

But  when,  under  the  Restoration,  the  representa 
tive  system  was  established  in  France,  there  was  a 
place,  a  fitting  place,  for  him,  at  the  tribune  ;  a  faith- 


77 

ful  representative  of  the  People,  a  friend  of  liberty 
regulated  and  protected  by  law,  an  enemy  of  usurpa 
tion  at  home  and  abroad,  not  less  than  of  the  bloody 
reactions  to  which  it  leads.  From  his  first  appear 
ance  in  the  chamber,  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  he 
is  found  at  his  post,  the  able,  the  eloquent,  the  con 
sistent  champion  of  the  principles,  to  which  from  his 
youth  he  had  been  devoted. 

His  re-appearance  on  the  scene,  as  the  active  ex 
pounder  and  champion  of  Constitutional  liberty,  was 
not  unobserved  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
A  generation  had  arisen,  who  had  read  the  story 
of  his  services,  and  heard  their  fathers  speak  with 
affection  of  his  person.  They  were  anxious  them 
selves  to  behold  the  friend  of  their  fathers ;  and  to 
exhibit  to  him  the  spectacle  of  the  prosperity  he  had 
done  so  much  to  establish.  A  resolution  passed  the 
two  houses  of  Congress  unanimously,  requesting  the 
President  to  invite  him  to  visit  the  United  States. 
In  conveying  this  invitation,  Mr.  Monroe  informed 
Lafayette  that  the  North  Carolina  ship  of  the  line, 
was  ordered  to  bring  him  to  America.  With  char 
acteristic  modesty,  he  declined  the  offer  of  a  public 
vessel,  and  with  his  son  and  secretary,  took  passage 
on  board  one  of  the  packet  ships,  between  New 
York  and  Havre.  He  arrived  at  New  York  on  the 
25th  of  August  1824,  just  forty  years  from  the  time 
of  his  landing  in  the  same  city,  on  occasion  of  his 
visit  to  the  United  States,  after  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  war. 

You  need  not,  fellow-citizens,  that  I  should  repeat 


78 

to  you  the  incidents  of  that  most  extraordinary  tri 
umphal  progress  through  the  country.  They  are  fresh 
in  your  recollection ;  and  history  may  be  searched 
in  vain  for  a  parallel  event.  His  arrival  in  the 
United  States  seemed  like  the  re-appearance  of  a 
friendly  genius,  on  the  theatre  of  his  youthful  and  be 
neficent  visitations.  He  came  back  to  us  from  long 
absence,  from  exile  and  from  dungeons,  almost  like  a 
beloved  parent  rising  from  the  dead.  His  arrival 
called  out  the  whole  population  of  the  country  to 
welcome  him,  but  not  in  the  stiff  uniform  of  a  parade, 
or  the  court  dress  of  a  heartless  ceremony.  Society, 
in  all  its  shades  and  gradations,  crowded  cordially 
around  him,  all  penetrated  with  one  spirit, — the 
spirit  of  admiration  and  love.  The  wealth  and 
luxury  of  the  coast,  the  teeming  abundance  of  the 
west ; — the  elegance  of  the  town,  the  cordiality  of 
the  country ; — the  authorities  Municipal,  National, 
and  State ;  the  living  relics  of  the  Revolution,  hon 
ored  in  the  honors  paid  to  their  companion  in  arms ; 
— the  scientific  and  learned  bodies,  the  children  at 
the  schools,  the  associations  of  active  life  and  of 
charity  ;  the  exiles  of  Spain,  France  and  Switzerland  ; 
— banished  kings  ; — patriots  of  whom  Europe  was 
not  worthy;  and  even  the  African  and  Indian; — 
every  thing  in  the  country,  that  had  life  and  sense, 
took  a  part  in  this  auspicious  drama  of  real  life. 

Had  the  deputed  representatives  of  these  various 
interests  and  conditions  been  assembled,  at  some 
one  grand  ceremonial  of  reception,  in  honor  of  the 
illustrious  visitor,  it  would,  even  as  the  pageant  of  a 


79 

day,  have  formed  an  august  spectacle.  It  would 
even  then  have  outshone  those  illustrious  triumphs 
of  Rome,  where  conquered  nations  and  captive 
princes  followed  in  the  train,  which  seemed  with 
reason  almost  to  lift  the  frail  mortal  thus  honored, 
above  the  earth,  over  which  he  was  borne.  But 
when  we  consider,  that  this  glorious  and  purer  tri 
umph  was  co-extensive  with  the  Union, — that  it 
swept  gracefully  along,  from  city  to  city  and  from 
state  to  state, — one  unbroken  progress  of  rapturous 
welcome  ; — banishing  feuds,  appeasing  dissensions, 
hushing  all  tumults  but  the  acclamations  of  joy, — 
uniting  in  one  great  act  of  public  salutation,  the 
conflicting  parties  of  a  free  people,  on  the  eve  and 
throughout  the  course  of  a  strenuous  contest, — with 
the  aura  epileptica  of  the  canvass  already  rushing 
over  the  body  politic, — that  it  was  continued  near  a 
twelvemonth,  an  annus  mirabilis  of  rejoicing,  aus 
piciously  commenced,  successfully  pursued,  and  hap 
pily  and  gracefully  accomplished,  we  perceive  in  it 
a  chapter  in  human  affairs  equally  singular,  delight 
ful,  instructive,  and  without  example. 

But  let  no  one  think  it  was  a  light  and  unreflect- 
ive  movement  of  popular  caprice.  There  was 
enough  in  the  character  and  fortunes  of  the  man,  to 
sustain  and  justify  it.  In  addition  to  a  rare  endow 
ment  of  personal  qualities,  sufficient  for  an  ample 
assignment  of  merit,  to  a  dozen  great  men  of  the 
common  stamp, — it  was  necessary  toward  the  pro 
duction  of  such  an  effect  on  the  public  mind,  that 
numberless  high  and  singular  associations  should 


80 

have  linked  his  name,  with  all  the  great  public 
movements  of  half  a  century.  It  was  necessary 
that,  in  a  venerable  age,  he  should  have  come  out  of 
a  long  succession  of  labors,  trials,  and  disasters,  of 
which  a  much  smaller  portion  is  commonly  sufficient 
to  break  down  the  health  and  spirits,  and  send  the 
weary  victim,  discouraged  and  heart-sick,  to  an 
early  retreat.  It  was  necessary  that  he  should,  in 
the  outset,  taking  age,  and  circumstances,  and  suc 
cess  into  consideration,  have  done  that  for  this  far 
distant  land,  which  was  never  done  for  any  country 
in  the  world.  Having  performed  an  arduous,  a 
dangerous,  an  honorable  and  triumphant  part  in  our 
Revolution, — itself  an  event  of  high  and  transcendent 
character, — it  was  necessary,  that,  pursuing  at  home 
the  path  of  immortal  renown  on  which  his  feet  had 
laid  hold  in  America,  he  should  have  engaged  among 
the  foremost,  in  that  stupendous  Revolution,  in  his 
own  country,  where  he  stood  sad  but  unshaken, 
amidst  the  madness  of  an  empire  ; — faithful  to  liber 
ty  when  all  else  were  faithless  ;  true  to  her  holy 
cause,  when  the  crimes  and  horrors  committed  in  her 
name  made  the  brave  fear  and  the  good  loathe  it; 
innocent  and  pure  in  that  4  open  hell,  ringing  with 
agony  and  blasphemy,  smoking  with  suffering  and 
crime.'  It  was  necessary  to  the  feeling,  with 
which  Lafayotte  was  received  in  this  country,  that 
the  people  should  remember  how  he  was  received  in 
Prussia  and  Austria  ;  how,  when  barely  escaping 
from  the  edge  of  the  Jacobin  guillotine  at  Paris,  he 
was  generously  bolted  down  into  the  underground 


81 

caverns  of  Magdeburg  ;  and  shut  up  to  languish  for 
years,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  in  a  pestiferous 
dungeon,  by  an  emperor  who  had  to  thank  him 
alone,  that  his  father's  sister  had  not  been  torn  limb 
from  limb,  by  the  poissardes  of  Paris.  It  was  ne 
cessary  to  justify  the  enthusiasm,  with  which  La 
fayette  was  welcomed  to  republican  America,  that 
when  another  catastrophe  had  placed  the  Man  of 
Fate  on  the  throne  of  France,  and  almost  of  Europe, 
Lafayette  alone,  not  in  a  convulsive  effort  of  fanati 
cal  hardihood,  but  in  the  calm  consciousness  of  a 
weight  of  character  which  would  bear  him  out  in  the 
step,  should,  deliberately  and  in  writing,  refuse  to 
sanction  the  power,  before  which  the  contemporary 
generation  quailed.  When  again  the  wheel  of  em 
pire  had  turned,  and  this  dreadful  colossus  was 
about  to  be  crushed  beneath  the  weight  of  Europe, 
(mustered  against  him  more  in  desperation  than  self 
assured  power,)  and  in  falling  dragged  down  to  earth 
the  honor  and  the  strength  of  France, — it  was  neces 
sary,  when  the  dust  and  smoke  of  the  contest  had 
blown  off,  that  the  faithful. sentinel  of  liberty  should 
be  seen  again  at  his  post,  ready  once  more  to  stake 
life  and  reputation  in  another  of  those  critical  junc 
tures,  when  the  stoutest  hearts  are  apt  to  retire,  and 
leave  the  field  to  desperate  men, — the  forlorn  hope 
of  affairs, — whom  recklessness  or  necessity  crowds  up 
to  the  breach.  But  to  refute  every  imputation  of 
selfishness, — of  a  wish  to  restore  himself  to  the 
graces  of  restored  royalty, — himself  the  only  indi 
vidual  of  continental  Europe,  within  the  reach  of 


82 

Napoleon's  sceptre,  that  refused  to  sanction  his  title, 
— it  was  necessary  that  he  should  be  coldly  viewed 
by  the  reappearing  dynasty,  and  that  he  should  be 
seen  and  heard, — not  in  the  cabinet  or  the  ante 
chamber,  swarming  with  men  whom  Napoleon  had 
spangled  with  stars,  but  at  the  tribune :  the  calm, 
the  rational,  the  ever  consistent  advocate  of  Liberty 
and  Order,  a  representative  of  the  People,  in  con 
stitutional  France.  It  was  there  I  first  saw  him.  I 
saw  the  Marshals  of  Napoleon,  gorged  with  the 
plunder  of  Europe  and  stained  with  its  blood,  borne 
on  their  flashing  chariot  wheels  through  the  streets 
of  Paris.  I  saw  the  ministers  of  Napoleon  filling  the 
highest  posts  of  trust  and  honor  under  Louis  XVIII. ; 
and  I  saw  the  friend  of  Washington,  glorious  in  his 
noble  poverty,  looking  down  from  the  dazzling  height 
of  his  consistency  and  his  principles,  on  their  paltry 
ambition  and  its  more  paltry  rewards. 

But  all  this, — much  as  it  was, — was  not  all  that 
combined  to  insure  to  Lafayette  the  respect,  the 
love,  the  passionate  admiration  of  the  people,  to 
whom  he  had  consecrated  the  bloom  of  his  youth; — 
for  whom  he  had  lavished  his  fortune  and  blood. 
These  were  the  essentials,  but  they  were  not  all.  In 
order  to  give  even  to  the  common  mind  a  topic  of 
pleasing  and  fanciful  contrast,  where  the  strongest 
mind  found  enough  to  command  respect  and  astonish 
ment  ;  in  order  to  make  up  a  character,  in  which  even 
the  ingredients  of  romance  were  mingled  with  the 
loftiest  and  sternest  virtues,  it  was  necessary  that, 
the  just  and  authentic  titles  to  respect  which  we 


83 

have  considered,  should  be  united  in  an  individual, 
who  derived  his  descent  from  the  ancient  chivalry  of 
France ; — that  he  should  have  been  born  within  the 
walls  of  a  feudal  castle  ; — that  the  patient  volunteer 
who  laid  his  head  contentedly  on  a  wreath  of  snow, 
beneath  the  tattered  canvass  of  a  tent  at  Valley 
Forge,  should  have  come  fresh  from  the  gorgeous 
canopies  of  Versailles ;  that  he  should  abandon  all 
that  a  false  ambition  could  covet,  as  well  as  attain 
all  that  a  pure  ambition  could  prize  ;  and  thus  begin 
life  by  trampling  under  foot  that  which  Chatham  ac 
cepted,  which  Burke  did  not  refuse, — and  for  which 
the  mass  of  eminent  men  in  Europe  barter  health, 
comfort,  and  conscience. 

Such  was  the  man  whom  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  invited  to  our  shores,  to  gather  in  the 
rich  harvest  of  a  people's  love.  Well  might  he  do 
it.  He  had  sown  it  in  weakness,  should  he  not  reap 
it  in  power  ?  He  had  come  to  us,  a  poor  and  strug 
gling  colony,  and  risked  his  life  and  shed  his  blood  in 
our  defence, — was  it  not  just,  that  he  should  come 
again  in  his  age,  to  witness  the  fruits  of  his  labors, 
to  rejoice  with  the  veteran  companions  of  his  service, 
and  to  receive  the  benedictions  of  the  children,  as  he 
had  received  those  of  the  fathers  ? 

But  the  delightful  vision  passes.  He  returns  to 
France  to  reappear  in  the  chamber  of  deputies,  the 
still  consistent  champion  of  reform,  both  at  home 
and  throughout  Europe.  His  extraordinary  recep 
tion  in  the  United  States  had  given  an  added  weight 
to  his  counsels,  which  nothing  could  withstand.  It 


84 

raised  him  into  a  new  moral  power  in  the  state : — 
an  inofficial  dictator  of  principle  ;  a  representative  of 
the  public  opinion  of  the  friends  of  liberty  in  the 
whole  world, — a  personation  of  the  spirit  of  reform. 
At  the  close  of  the  sesssion  of  1 829,  on  occasion  of 
a  visit  to  the  place  of  his  birth,  in  the  ancient  prov 
ince  of  Auvergne,  his  progress  through  the  country 
was  the  counterpart  of  his  tour  through  the  United 
States.  In  the  towns  and  villages  on  his  way,  he 
was  received  in  triumph.  Arches  arose  over  his 
venerable  head, — the  population  gathered  round  him 
at  the  festive  board,  and  the  language  of  the  address 
es  made  to  him,  and  of  his  replies,  was  of  startling 
significance.  It  was  a  moment,  you  may  remember, 
in  France,  when  the  tide  of  reform  seemed  flowing 
backwards.  Some  of  the  worst  abuses  of  the  an 
cient  regime  were  openly  re-established.  The  min 
istry  was  filled  with  some  of  the  most  obnoxious  of 
the  emigrant  nobility.  The  expedition  to  Algiers 
gave  no  small  eclat  to  the  administration,  feeble  and 
odious  as  it  was  ; — and  on  a  superficial  view  it  seem 
ed,  that  the  entire  fruit  of  the  immense  sacrifices, 
which  France  had  made  for  Constitutional  Liberty, 
was  about  to  be  wrested  from  her.  Such,  I  own, 
for  a  short  time,  was  my  own  apprehension*  But 
the  visit  of  Lafayette  to  the  south  of  France  convin 
ced  me,  that  there  was  no  ground  for  despondence. 
1  saw  plainly,  that  either  by  way  of  awakening  the 
slumbering  spirit  of  resistance,  or  because  he  saw 
that  it  was  awakened  and  demanded  sympathy  and 
encouragement ;  either  to  excite  or  guide  the  public 


85 

mind,  the  sagacious  veteran  was  on  the  alert ;  and 
that  language,  such  as  he  was  daily  addressing  to 
the  people, — received  in  willing  ears, — was  the 
award  of  fate  to  the  administration.  In  some  re 
marks,  submitted  to  the  public  on  the  1st  of  January 
1830,  I  ventured  to  express  myself,  in  the  following 
manner : 

'  When  we  read,  in  the  last  papers  from  France,  the 
account  of  the  present  state  of  things  in  that  kingdom; 
when  we  notice  the  irresistible  onset  made  upon  the 
ministry  and  the  visible  perturbation  of  its  ranks,  it 
is  impossible  wholly  to  suppress  the  idea,  that  anoth 
er  great  change  is  at  hand.  When  we  see  the  spon 
taneous  movement  of  the  people  toward  the  person 
of  Lafayette,  the  glowing  zeal  with  which  they  have 
turned  an  excursion  of  business  into  another  trium 
phant  progress,  strewing  his  way  with  honors,  such  as 
loyal  France  never  paid  to  her  most  cherished  princes, 
we  cannot  but  think,  that,  in  the  language  of  the 
venerable  Spanish  priest  at  New  Orleans,  he  is  still 
reserved  for  great  achievements.  The  feelings  of  men 
inspire  their  actions ;  public  sentiment  governs  states ; 
and  revolutions  are  the  out-breakings  of  mighty, 
irrepressible  passions.  It  is  in  vain  to  deny,  that 
these  passions  are  up  in  France,  and  happy  is  it  that 
they  have  concentrated  themselves  upon  a  patriot, 
whom  prosperity  has  been  as  little  able  to  corrupt, 
as  adversity  to  subdue.'  What  was  vague  foreboding 
on  the  first  of  January,  was  history  by  the  last  of  July. 
On  that  day,  Charles  X.  and  his  family,  who  had 
learned  nothing  and  forgotten  nothing  in  thirty  years 


86 

of  banishment  and  exclusion,  were  on  their  way  to 
the  frontier,  and  Lafayette  was  installed  at  the  Ho 
tel  de  Ville  at  the  head  of  the  National  Guards, — at 
the  head  of  a  new  Revolution. 

At  the  head  of  a  new  Revolution  ?  Not  so.  He 
lives,  the  fortunate  man,  to  see  the  first  Revolution, — 
emerging  from  years  of  abuse  and  seas  of  blood, — 
and  approaching  its  peaceful  consummation.  A  weak 
and  besotted  prince,  who  had  attempted,  by  one 
monstrous  act  of  executive  usurpation,  to  repeal  the 
entire  charter,  and  had  thus  produced  a  revolt,  in 
which  six  thousand  lives  were  lost, — is  permitted  un 
molested,  and  in  safety,  to  leave  the  city,  where, 
twenty-seven  years  before,  his  innocent  brother  had 
been  dragged  to  the  scaffold.  A  dynasty  is  changed, 
with  the  promptitude  and  order  of  an  election.  And 
when  the  critical  period  comes  on,  for  the  trial  of  the 
guilty  ministers, — the  responsible  advisers  of  the 
measures,  which  had  drenched  Paris  in  blood, — 
Lafayette  is  able,  by  the  influence  of  his  venerable 
authority  and  the  exercise  of  his  military  command, 
to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  and  save  their  for 
feited  lives. 

In  these,  his  successful  efforts,  to  prevent  the  late 
revolution  from  assuming  a  sanguinary  character,  I 
own  I  cannot  but  think,  that  our  revered  Lafayette 
did  as  much  for  the  cause  of  liberty,  as  by  all 
his  former  efforts  and  sacrifices.  There  is  nothing 
more  efficacious,  in  reconciling  men  to  the  continued 
existence  of  corrupt  forms  of  government,  than  the 
fear,  that  when  once  the  work  of  revolution  is  under- 


87 

taken,  blood  of  necessity  begins  to  flow  in  torrents. 
It  was  the  reign  of  terror  which  reconciled  men  to 
the  reign  of  Napoleon, — arid  it  is  the  dread  of  seeing 
its  scenes  reacted  in  Austria,  in  Prussia,  and  in 
Russia,  which  prevents  the  intelligence  of  those 
countries  from  engaging  in  earnest,  in  the  work  of 
radical  reform. 

In  all  the  steps  of  the  recent  revolution  in  France, 
so  long  as  there  was  responsibility  to  be  assumed 
or  danger  to  be  braved,  Lafayette  was  its  leader. 
It  is  plain,  from  documents  before  the  world,  that 
he  could  have  organized  the  government  on  the 
republican  model,  and  placed  himself  at  its  head. 
Although,  in  refraining  from  this,  it  may  be  justly 
said,  that  he  abstained  from  a  course,  for  which 
his  advanced  age, — his  pledged  disinterestedness, 
— and  the  consistency  of  his  whole  life  unfitted 
him  ;  it  is  not  the  less  true,  that  in  deciding  for  a 
hereditary  executive,  with  a  legislature  chosen  by 
the  people,  or,  in  his  own  language,  a  monarchy 
surrounded  by  republican  institutions,  he  acted  up  to 
the  principles,  with  which  he  commenced  his  politi 
cal  course.  There  is  as  much  truth  as  point  in 
the  remark  ascribed  to  Charles  X.,  on  his  way  to  the 
sea  coast,  *  that  he  and  Lafayette  were  the  only  con 
sistent  men  of  the  day.' 

Born  for  mighty  constitutional  movements,  for  the 
support  of  great  principles,  to  take  the  direction  in 
critical  junctures  of  affairs, — but  absolutely  insensible 
to  the  love  of  power  or  money,  or  the  passion  for 
place,  Lafayette's  functions  were  exhausted,  as  soon 


88 

as  the  new  government  was  organized.  He  re 
created  the  National  Guard,  which  he  had  called  into 
being  in  1789,  and  in  which  lay  the  germ  of  the 
victories  of  Napoleon, — placed  a  constitutional  crown, 
without  commotion  or  bloodshed,  on  the  head  of 
the  Duke  of  Orleans, — and  carried  the  government 
through  the  crisis  of  the  trial  of  the  ministers.  Having 
performed  these  great  services  to  the  country, — and 
disdaining  to  enter  into  the  petty  politics,  which  suc 
ceed  a  great  movement, — the  scramble  for  office  and 
the  rivalries  of  small  men, — he  laid  down  his  commis 
sion  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the  National  Guards, 
and  confined  himself  to  his  duties,  as  a  representative 
of  the  people,  and  to  the  exercise  of  his  moral  influ 
ence,  as  the  acknowledged  chief  of  the  constitutional 
party  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  spring,  our  beloved  bene 
factor,  in  attending  the  funeral  of  a  colleague  in  the 
Chamber  of  deputies,  from  long  exposure  to  the 
dampness  of  the  air  and  ground,  contracted  a  cold, 
which  settled  on  his  lungs ;  and  which,  though 
deemed  slight  at  first,  gradually  assumed  a  serious 
aspect.  After  a  protracted  struggle  with  the  remains 
of  a  once  vigorous  constitution,  the  disease  became 
alarming  ;  but  not,  as  was  supposed,  critical,  till  the 
1 9th  of  May.  On  that  day,  by  a  mark  of  public 
sympathy  never  perhaps  paid  before  to  a  private 
citizen,  the  Chamber  of  deputies  directed  their  Pres 
ident  to  address  a  note  to  Mr.  G.  W.  Lafayette, 
enquiring  after  the  health  of  his  venerable  parent. 
At  the  time  of  this  enquiry,  the  symptoms  of  the 


89 

disease  were  less  alarming,  but  an  unfavorable 
change  soon  took  place ;  and,  on  the  following  day, 
the  illustrious  sufferer, — the  patriarch  of  Liberty, 
died,  in  the  77th  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried, 
by  his  own  direction,  not  within  the  vaults  of  the 
Pantheon, — not  among  the  great  and  illustrious,  that 
people  the  silent  alleys  of  Pere  la  Chaise, — but  in  a 
rural  cemetery  near  Paris,  by  the  side  of  her,  who 
had  shared  his  pure  love  of  liberty,  his  triumphs,  his 
dungeon,  and  his  undying  renown.  In  a  secluded 
garden,  in  this  humble  retreat,  beneath  the  shade  of 
a  row  of  linden  trees,  between  his  wife  and  his 
daughter,  the  friend  of  Washington  and  America,  has 
lain  down  to  his  last  repose. 

I  attempt  not,  fellow-citizens,  to  sketch  his  char 
acter.  I  have  no  space,  no  capacity,  for  the  task.  1 
have  endeavored  to  run  over, — superficially  of  neces 
sity,  the  incidents  of  his  life ;  his  character  is  con 
tained  in  the  recital. 

There  have  been  those  who  have  denied  to  Lafay 
ette  the  name  of  a  great  man.  What  is  greatness  ? 
Does  goodness  belong  to  greatness  and  make  an 
essential  part  of  it  ?  Is  there  yet  enough  of  virtue 
left  in  the  world,  to  echo  the  sentiment,  that 

'T  is  phrase  absurd,  to  call  a  villain  great  ? 

If  there  is,  who,  1  would  ask,  of  all  the  prominent 
names  in  history,  has  run  through  such  a  career,  with 
so  little  reproach,  justly  or  unjustly,  bestowed  ?  Are 
military  courage  and  conduct  the  measure  of  great 
ness  ?  Lafayette  was  entrusted  by  Washington  with 
all  kinds  of  service  ; — the  laborious  and  complicated, 

M 


90 

which  required  skill  and  patience,  the  perilous  that 
demanded  nerve ; — and  we  see  him  keeping  up  a 
pursuit,  effecting  a  retreat,  out-manoeuvring  a  wary 
adversary  with  a  superior  force,  harmonizing  the 
action  of  French  regular  troops  and  American  militia, 
commanding  an  assault  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet ; 
and  all  with  entire  success  and  brilliant  reputation. 
Is  the  readiness  to  meet  vast  responsibility  a  proof  of 
greatness  ?  The  memoirs  of  Mr.  Jefferson  show  us, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  that  there  was  a  moment  in 
1789,  when  Lafayette  took  upon  himself,  as  the 
head  of  the  military  force,  the  entire  responsibility 
of  laying  down  the  basis  of  the  Revolution.  Is  the 
cool  and  brave  administration  of  gigantic  power,  a 
mark  of  greatness  ?  In  all  the  whirlwind  of  the 
Revolution,  and  when,  as  Commander-in-chief  of  the 
National  Guard,  an  organized  force  of  three  millions 
of  men,  who,  for  any  popular  purpose,  needed  but  a 
word,  a  look,  to  put  them  in  motion, — and  he  their 
idol, — we  behold  him  ever  calm,  collected,  disinter 
ested  ;  as  free  from  affectation  as  selfishness,  clothed 
not  less  with  humility  than  with  power.  Is  the  for 
titude  required  to  resist  the  multitude  pressing  on 
ward  their  leader  to  glorious  crime,  a  part  of  great 
ness  ?  Behold  him  the  fugitive  and  the  victim,  when 
he  might  have  been  the  chief  of  the  Revolution.  Is 
the  solitary  and  unaided  opposition  of  a  good  citizen 
to  the  pretensions  of  an  absolute  ruler,  whose  power 
was  as  boundless  as  his  ambition,  an  effort  of  great 
ness  ?  Read  the  letter  of  Lafayette  to  Napoleon 
Bonaparte,  refusing  to  vote  for  him  as  Consul  for  life. 


91 

Is  the  voluntary  return,  in  advancing  years,  to  the 
direction  of  affairs,  at  a  moment  like  that,  when  in 
1815  the  ponderous  machinery  of  the  French  empire 
was  flying  asunder, — stunning,  rending,  crushing 
thousands  on  every  side, — a  mark  of  greatness  ? 
Contemplate  Lafayette  at  the  tribune,  in  Paris,  when 
allied  Europe  was  thundering  at  its  gates,  and  Na 
poleon  yet  stood  in  his  desperation  and  at  bay.  Are 
dignity,  propriety,  cheerfulness,  unerring  discretion  in 
new  and  conspicuous  stations  of  extraordinary  deli 
cacy,  a  sign  of  greatness  ?  Watch  his  progress  in 
this  country,  in  1824  and  1825,  hear  him  say  the 
right  word  at  the  right  time,  in  a  series  of  interviews, 
public  and  private,  crowding  on  each  other  every 
day,  for  a  twelvemonth,  throughout  the  Union,  with 
every  description  of  persons,  without  ever  wounding 
for  a  moment  the  self-love  of  others,  or  forgetting 
the  dignity  of  his  own  position.  Lastly,  is  it  any 
proof  of  greatness  to  be  able,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
three,  to  take  the  lead  in  a  successful  arid  bloodless 
revolution  ; — to  change  the  dynasty, — to  organize, 
exercise,  and  abdicate  a  military  command  of  three 
and  a  half  millions  of  men  ; — to  take  up,  to  perform, 
and  lay  down  the  most  momentous,  delicate,  and  per 
ilous  duties,  without  passion,  without  hurry,  without 
selfishness  ?  Is  it  great  to  disregard  the  bribes  of 
title,  office,  money ; — to  live,  to  labor,  and  suffer  for 
great  public  ends  alone ; — to  adhere  to  principle 
under  all  circumstances  ; — to  stand  before  Europe 
and  America  conspicuous  for  sixty  years,  in  the  most 
responsible  stations,  the  acknowledged  admiration  of 
all  good  men  ? 


92 

But  I  think  I  understand  the  proposition,  that  Lafay 
ette  was  not  a  great  man.  It  comes  from  the  same 
school,  which  also  denies  greatness  to  Washington, 
and  which  accords  it  to  Alexander  and  Cesar,  to 
Napoleon  and  to  his  Conqueror.  When  I  analize 
the  greatness  of  these  distinguished  men,  as  con 
trasted  with  that  of  Lafayette  and  Washington,  I 
find  either  one  idea  omitted,  which  is  essential  to 
true  greatness,  or  one  included  as  essential,  which 
belongs  only  to  the  lowest  conception  of  greatness. 
The  moral,  disinterested,  and  purely  patriotic  quali 
ties  are  wholly  wanting  in  the  greatness  of  Cesar 
and  Napoleon  ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  certain 
splendor  of  success,  a  brilliancy  of  result,  which, 
with  the  majority  of  mankind,  marks  them  out  as 
the  great  men  of  our  race.  But  not  only  are  a  high 
morality  and  a  true  patriotism  essential  to  greatness ; 
— but  they  must  first  be  renounced,  before  a  ruthless 
career  of  selfish  conquest  can  begin.  I  profess  to 
be  no  judge  of  military  combinations;  but,  with  the 
best  reflection  I  have  been  able  to  give  the  subject, 
I  perceive  no  reason  to  doubt,  that,  had  Lafayette, 
like  Napoleon,  been  by  principle,  capable  of  hover 
ing  on  the  edges  of  ultra-revolutionism  ;  never  halt 
ing  enough  to  be  denounced  ;  never  plunging  too  far 
to  retreat ; — but  with  a  cold  and  well-balanced 
selfishness,  sustaining  himself  at  the  head  of  affairs, 
under  each  new  phase  of  the  Revolution,  by  the  com 
pliances  sufficient  to  satisfy  its  demands,  had  his  prin 
ciples  allowed  him  to  play  this  game,  he  might  have 
anticipated  the  career  of  Napoleon.  At  three  differ- 


93 

ent  periods,  he  had  it  in  his  power,  without  usurpa 
tion,  to  take  the  government  into  his  own  hands.  He 
was  invited,  urged  to  do  so.  Had  he  done  it,  and 
made  use  of  the  military  means  at  his  command,  to 
maintain  and  perpetuate  his  power, — he  would  then, 
at  the  sacrifice  of  all  his  just  claims  to  the  name  of 
great  and  good,  have  reached  that  which  vulgar  ad 
miration  alone  worships, — the  greatness  of  high  sta 
tion  and  brilliant  success. 

But  it  was  of  the  greatness  of  Lafayette,  that  he 
looked  down  on  greatness  of  the  false  kind.  He 
learned  his  lesson  in  the  school  of  Washington,  and 
took  his  first  practice,  in  victories  over  himself.  Let 
it  be  questioned,  by  the  venal  apologists  of  time- 
honored  abuses, — let  it  be  sneered  at  by  national 
prejudice  and  party  detraction ;  let  it  be  denied  by 
the  admirers  of  war  and  conquest ; — by  the  idola 
ters  of  success, — but  let  it  be  gratefully  acknowledged 
by  good  men  ;  by  Americans, — by  every  man,  who 
has  sense  to  distinguish  character  from  events  ;  who 
has  a  heart  to  beat  in  concert  with  the  pure  enthu 
siasm  of  virtue. 

But  it  is  more  than  time,  fellow-citizens,  that  I 
commit  this  great  and  good  man  to  your  unprompted 
contemplation.  On  his  arrival  among  you,  ten  years 
ago, — when  your  civil  fathers,  your  military,  your 
children,  your  whole  population  poured  itself  out, 
as  one  throng,  to  salute  him, — when  your  cannons 
proclaimed  his  advent  with  joyous  salvos, — and  your 
acclamations  were  responded  from  steeple  to  steeple, 
by  the  voice  of  festal  bells,  with  what  delight  did 


94 

you  not  listen  to  his  cordial  and  affectionate  words ; 
— '  I  beg  of  you  all,  beloved  citizens  of  Boston,  to 
accept  the  respectful  and  warm  thanks  of  a  heart, 
which  has  for  nearly  half  a  century  been  devoted  to 
your  illustrious  city  !'  That  noble  heart, — to  which, 
if  any  object  on  earth  was  dear,  that  object  was  the 
country  of  his  early  choice, — of  his  adoption,  and 
his  more  than  regal  triumph, — that  noble  heart  will 
beat  no  more  for  your  welfare.  Cold  and  motion 
less,  it  is  already  mingling  with  the  dust.  While 
he  lived,  you  thronged  with  delight  to  his  presence, 
— you  gazed  with  admiration  on  his  placid  features 
and  venerable  form,  not  wholly  unshaken  by  the 
rude  storms  of  his  career ;  and  now  that  he  is  de 
parted,  you  have  assembled  in  this  cradle  of  the 
liberties,  for  which,  with  your  fathers,  he  risked 
his  life,  to  pay  the  last  honors  to  his  memory. 
You  have  thrown  open  these  consecrated  portals  to 
admit  the  lengthened  train  which  has  come  to  dis 
charge  the  last  public  offices  of  respect  to  his  name. 
You  have  hung  these  venerable  arches,  for  the  second 
time  since  their  erection,  with  the  sable  badges  of 
sorrow.  You  have  thus  associated  the  memory  of 
Lafayette  in  those  distinguished  honors,  which  but  a 
few  years  since  you  paid  to  your  Adams  and  Jeffer 
son  ;  and  could  your  wishes  and  mine  have  prevail 
ed,  my  lips  would  this  day  have  been  mute,  and  the 
same  illustrious  voice,  which  gave  utterance  to  your 
filial  emotions  over  their  honored  graves,  would  have 
spoken  also,  for  you,  over  him  who  shared  their 
earthly  labors, — enjoyed  their  friendship, — and  has 


95 

now  gone  to  share  their  last  repose,  and  their  im 
perishable  remembrance. 

There  is  not,  throughout  the  world,  a  friend  of 
liberty,  who  has  not  dropped  his  head,  when  he  has 
heard  that  Lafayette  is  no  more.  Poland,  Italy, 
Greece,  Spain,  Ireland,  the  South  American  repub 
lics, — every  country  where  man  is  struggling  to  re 
cover  his  birthright, — has  lost  a  benefactor,  a  patron 
in  Lafayette.  But  you,  young  men,  at  whose  com 
mand  I  speak,  for  you  a  bright  and  particular  lode 
star  is  henceforward  fixed  in  the  front  of  heaven. 
What  young  man  that  reflects  on  the  history  of  La 
fayette, — that  sees  him  in  the  morning  of  his  days 
the  associate  of  sages, — the  friend  of  Washington, 
— but  will  start  with  new  vigor  on  the  path  of  duty 
and  renown  ? 

And  what  was  it,  fellow-citizens,  which  gave  to 
our  Lafayette  his  spotless  fame  ?  The  love  of  liber 
ty.  What  has  consecrated  his  memory  in  hearts  of 
good  men  ?  The  love  of  liberty.  What  nerved  his 
youthful  arm  with  strength,  and  inspired  him  in  the 
morning  of  his  days  with  sagacity  and  counsel  ?  The 
living  love  of  liberty.  To  what  did  he  sacrifice 
power,  and  rank  and  country  and  freedom  itself? 
To  the  horror  of  licentiousness  ; — to  the  sanctity  of 
plighted  faith,  to  the  love  of  liberty  protected  by 
law.  Thus  the  great  principle  of  your  Revolutiona 
ry  fathers,  of  your  pilgrim  sires,  the  great  principle 
of  the  age,  was  the  rule  of  his  life  :  The  love  of 
liberty  protected  by  law. 


96 

You  have  now  assembled  within  these  renowned 
walls,  to  perform  the  last  duties  of  respect  and  love, 
— on  the  birth  day  of  your  benefactor,  beneath  that 
roof  which  has  resounded  of  old  with  the  master 
voices  of  American  renown.  The  spirit  of  the  de 
parted  is  in  high  communion  with  the  spirit  of  the 
place  ; — the  temple  worthy  of  the  new  name,  which 
we  now  behold  inscribed  on  its  walls.  Listen, 
Americans,  to  the  lesson,  which  seems  borne  to  us 
on  the  very  air  we  breathe,  while  we  perform  these 
dutiful  rites.  Ye  winds,  that  wafted  the  pilgrims  to 
the  land  of  promise,  fan,  in  their  children's  hearts, 
the  love  of  freedom ; — Blood,  which  our  fathers  shed, 
cry  from  the  ground ; — Echoing  arches  of  this  re 
nowned  hall,  whisper  back  the  voices  of  other  days  ; 
— Glorious  Washington,  break  the  long  silence  of 
that  votive  canvass; — Speak,  speak,  marble  lips, 
teach  us  THE  LOVE  OF  LIBERTY  PROTECTED  BY 
LAW! 


APPENDIX. 


[The  Committee  of  Publication,  conceiving  it  desirable  to  preserve  some 
record  of  the  Commemoration,  in  a  more  permanent  form  than  that  of  a 
newspaper,  have  subjoined  the  following  notice,  from  the  Boston  Daily  Ad 
vocate  of  September  8th.] 

THE  COMMEMORATION,  on  Saturday,  the  6th  of  September, 
was  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  effective  public  observances 
ever  witnessed  in  this  city.  The  Young  Men's  Committee 
were  aware  that  the  scene  was  too  remote  in  time  and  place  from 
the  death  of  Lafayette,  to  bring  into  the  ceremony  the  exter 
nal  trappings  of  wo,  as  the  prevailing  order  of  the  day.  They 
therefore  studied  to  get  up  the  ceremony  in  a  strict,  and  even 
severe  taste,  excluding  ornament  and  mere  pageant,  and  relying 
for  the  effect  of  the  arrangements  upon  their  substantial  and 
appropriate  simplicity  and  moral  and  martial  associations.  For 
these  reasons,  the  led  horse,  the  urn,  the  funereal  hearse  and 
coffin,  which  have  attended  the  like  commemorations  in  other 
cities,  were  excluded,  as  being,  in  effect,  the  mere  mockeries 
of  wo,  wholly  unsuited  to  the  associations  connected  with  the 
glorious  life  and  fully  ripened  death  of  the  good  Lafayette. 

In  a  word,  the  occasion  was  intended  to  be  made  a  commem 
oration  of  the  services  and  virtues  of  Lafayette,  and  not  a  day 
of  mourning,  as  at  the  death  of  one  who  had  been  removed 
from  a  scene  of  usefulness,  in  the  vigor  of  life  and  energy.  The 
ceremonies,  and  all  the  externals  of  the  day,  were  in  appropri 
ate  keeping  with  this  primary  object  of  the  Committee;  and  if 
they  are  entitled  to  approbation  for  having  succeeded  in  render- 
dering  the  observances  worthy  the  occasion,  and  of  the  spirit 

N 


98 

in  which  they  were  selected  to  perform  this  service,  by  their 
immediate  constituents,  the  young  men  of  Boston,  their  success 
is  to  be  attributed  to  their  discrimination,  in  studying  an  intel 
lectual  and  moral  adaptedness,  rather  than  mere  pageant  and 
exhibition. 

The  day  was  delightful,  and  the  entire  population  of  the  city 
surrendered  themselves  to  its  hallowed  influence.  The  most 
respectful  deportment  distinguished  the  crowds  of  people,  com 
prising  the  best  of  our  population,  who  were  congregated  at 
every  point,  and  filled  the  windows  and  doors  throughout  the 
long  route  of  the  procession;  nor  was  there  known  a  single 
instance  of  excess,  personal  conflict,  or  even  rudeness  that 
occurred  among  the  whole  mass  of  population  that  were  assem 
bled  together,  and  drawn  into  the  streets  by  this  occasion. 

The  procession  began  to  form  at  the  State  House  at  ten 
o'clock;  but  with  the  most  indefatigable  exertions  of  the  mar 
shals  and  officers  of  the  escort,  the  various  bodies  could  not  be 
placed  in  line  and  set  in  motion,  until  half  past  eleven.  They 
then  proceeded  through  Beacon,  Tremont,  Boylston,  and  Wash 
ington  streets,  to  Rev.  Mr.  Motte's  meeting  house, — counter 
marched,  and  came  down  Washington,  through  State  street  and 
Merchant's  Row,  to  Faneuil  Hall. 

The  fine  body  of  military  formed  the  most  prominent  division 
of  the  long  procession.  There  were  eight  companies  in  full 
dress,  forming  the  Boston  Regiment,  under  command  of  Colo 
nel  Smith,  and  four  very  neat  and  effective  independent  com 
panies  from  the  vicinity,  viz:  The  Hingham  Light  Infantry 
and  Rifle  companies,  the  Middlesex  Guards,  and  a  company 
from  Maiden.  The  presence  of  these  neat  and  well  disciplined 
corps,  was  a  great  acquisition  to  the  procession,  and  was 
highly  gratifying  to  the  committee  of  arrangements  and  the 
citizens  generally. 

The  Military  companies  were  all  full,  and  together  formed 
a  regiment  of  upwards  of  five  hundred  effective  men,  who 
could  not  be  approached  in  richness  of  equipments  and  exact 
ness  of  discipline,  by  as  large  a  body  that  could  be  mustered  at 
any  other  point  in  the  Union.  Nor  should  we  forget  to  mention 


99 

the  spirited  little  corps  of  Juvenile  Volunteers,  formed  in  the 
rear  of  the  procession,  and  equipped  and  marshalled  with  the 
precision  of  veterans.  The  military  moved,  right  in  front,  with 
their  arms  at  a  shoulder,  flags  unfurled  and  drums  not  muffled, 
the  officers  with  the  hilts  of  their  swords  covered  with  crape, 
and  the  standards  tied  with  crape  at  the  top. 

The  whole  line  of  the  procession  extended  nearly  a  mile, 
comprising  one  thousand  seven  hundred  persons  by  counting, 
but  more  probably,  at  least  two  thousand.  The  Firemen,  with 
their  badges,  but  without  their  apparatus,  were  the  body  next 
prominent  after  the  Military,  comprising  nearly  five  hundred  of 
the  active  young  men  of  the  city.  Those  who  have  been  ac 
customed  to  associate  the  Firemen  only  with  their  appropriate 
dresses  as  such,  had  an  opportunity  on  this  occasion  of  seeing 
what  sort  of  a  body  of  young  men  it  is,  to  whom  the  citizens  are 
indebted  for  that  security  which  renders  the  cry  of  fire  a  source 
of  no  alarm  in  this  city,  except  to  the  immediate  occupants  of 
the  place  in  flames. 

The  procession  moved  in  the  order  designated  in  the  papers. 
First  came  the  body  of  five  hundred  of  the  Military;  then  the 
Committee  of  Arrangements  ;  the  Lieutenant  Governor,  with 
the  aids  of  the  Governor,  (who  was  unable  to  be  present)  ; 
Major  General  Macomb,  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Unit 
ed  States  forces,  who  was  present  with  his  suite  ;  United  States 
and  State  Senators,  Representatives  and  Judges,  among  whom 
we  observed  the  Hon.  Senators  Ewing  of  Ohio,  and  Mangum 
of  North  Carolina,  Hon.  Richard  H.  Wilde,  representative 
from  Georgia,  Ex-President  Adams,  Messrs.  Silsbee,  Gorham, 
and  Jackson,  Members  of  Congress  from  this  State,  and  Mr. 
Choate,  of  Salem.  There  was  also  a  large  number  of  invited 
strangers,  including  some  of  our  own  citizens,  who  bore  an  ap 
propriate  relation  to  the  occasion.  Among  them  were  Colonel 
Thomas  H.  Perkins,  and  Mr.  Joseph  Russell  of  this  city,  by 
whose  aid  George  Washington  Lafayette  was  saved  from  pro 
scription,  and  sent  to  this  country  during  the  French  Revolu 
tion,  while  his  father  was  confined  in  the  prison  of  Olmiitz  ;  an 
act  for  which  Lafayette  personally  thanked  them,  after  his  re- 


100 

lease.  Mr.  Everett  made  a  beautiful  allusion  to  this  affecting 
incident,  in  his  funeral  oration,  as  he  did  also,  to  Mr.  Webster, 
who  had  been  first  invited  by  the  young  men  to  pronounce  the 
eulogy. 

A  few  of  the  veterans  of  the  Revolution  and  members  of  the 
Cincinnati,  made  their  venerable  appearance  in  the  procession. 
The  body  of  Naval  and  Military  officers  of  the  United  States, 
and  of  the  State  Militia,  in  full  dress,  was  large,  and  made  a  fine 
appearance.  The  Mayor,  and  city  authorities  very  generally 
turned  out,  and  there  was  a  numerous  body  of  the  clergy,  and 
several  French  residents  and  Polish  exiles,  distinguished  by 
the  tri-colored  cockade.  The  Massachusetts  Horticultural 
Society,  the  Charitable  Mechanic  Association,  the  Medical  So 
ciety,  the  Irish  Charitable  Association,  the  Young  Men's  Lite 
rary  Association,  and  several  other  Mechanic  Associations 
joined  in  the  procession.  Among  them  the  Association  of 
Tailors  bore  a  large  and  splendidly  painted  banner,  and  there 
were  a  few  other  banners  of  the  different  Mechanic  Societies, 
Fire  Engine  Company  No.  18,  bore  a  pedestal  supporting  the 
busts  of  Lafayette  and  Washington,  under  the  French  and 
American  flags.  We  were  gratified  to  notice  in  the  procession 
a  large  body  (more  than  a  hundred)  of  the  students  of  Harvard 
College,  arranged  by  classes.  After  the  Freshman  class,  came 
the  corps  of  Young  Volunteers,  followed  by  a  large  number 
of  pupils  of  the  public  schools.  This  arrangement  had  a  very 
good  effect. 

When  they  arrived  at  the  Hall,  the  Military  formed  a  square, 
in  beautiful  style,  through  which  the  procession  entered,  Major 
General  Macomb  being  received  with  the  honors  due  to  his 
rank.  This  movement  of  the  escort  was  a  beautiful  evolution, 
and  presented  a  spectacle  that  struck  every  one  with  admiration. 

Faneuil  Hall,  when  filled  with  the  dense  mass  which  occu 
pied  every  inch  of  space  within  its  spacious  walls,  presented  a 
spectacle  of  moral  grandeur.  The  dressing  of  the  Hall  was  very 
appropriate  and  chaste.  A  heavy  canopy  was  formed  from  the 
roof  by  hangings  of  black  cloth,  suspended  from  the  centre  to 
the  capitals  of  the  pillars  and  pilasters,  which  were  also  wound 


101 

with  black;  a  festoon  of  black  cloth  running  round  the  walls  with 
hangings  from  the  arches.  The  galleries  were  clothed  in 
black  broadcloth,  relieved  on  the  sides  alternately  by  rich 
French  and  American  flags,  (for  which  the  Committee  were 
indebted  to  Commodore  Elliott  of  the  Navy  Yard)  and  in 
front  by  the  name  of  LAFAYETTE,  in  large  silver  letters,  with  a 
gilt  spread  eagle  over  the  centre.  The  labor  of  this  part  of 
the  arrangement  devolved  principally  on  Mr.  R.  G.  Wait,  of 
the  Committee. 

The  platform,  at  the  head  of  the  Hall  on  the  lower  floor,  was 
appropriated  to  the  Boston  Academy  of  Music,  under  the  direc 
tion  of  Mr.  Lowell  Mason.  A  large  organ,  provided  for  the 
occasion,  stood  in  the  centre  hung  with  crape,  the  top  surmount 
ed  by  a  white  urn,  with  flags  on  either  side.  Raised  seats 
extending  across  the  area  of  the  Hall,  with  a  railing  in  front, 
covered  with  black,  formed  the  Orchestra,  which  contained 
nearly  an  hundred  voices  and  instruments.  The  Portraits  of 
Washington,  Knox,  &/c.,  were  dressed  in  black.  In  front  of  the 
organ,  extending  out  into  the  Hall,  was  an  elevated  rostrum 
for  the  Orator,  covered  with  a  carpet,  red  and  black,  and  hung 
with  black  drapery  from  the  staging  to  the  floor.  On  the  rear 
of  this  platform  the  Orator  and  two  chaplains  were  seated. 
At  the  right  of  the  Orator,  as  he  advanced  in  front  to  address 
the  audience  from  the  open  stage,  was  placed  a  large  plain 
column  and  pedestal,  four  feet  high,  supporting  an  excellent 
bust  of  Lafayette,  which  was  loaned  by  Mr.  Greenwood,  of  the 
New  England  Museum. 

The  effect  of  this  bust,  in  giving  an  ideal  presence  to  the 
scene,  throughout  the  whole  address  of  the  Orator,  was  thrilling, 
especially  at  the  close,  when  by  a  figure  of  speech,  not  less 
bold  than  it  was  successful  and  overpowering,  he  apostrophised 
first  the  canvass  that  bore  the  image  of  Washington,  and  then 
the  bust  of  Lafayette — l  speak,  speak,  marble  lips.'  It  was  a 
lesson  of  patriotism  and  love  of  virtue,  impressed  as  it  was  by  the 
Orator,  himself  a  young  man,  upon  the  young  men  of  Boston, 
that  those  who  heard  can  never  forget. 

Extended  either  side  from  the  rostrum  to  the  galleries,  were 


102 

seats  fronting  the  main  body  of  the  audience,  occupied  by 
strangers,  public  officers,  the  Committee,  &c.  The  whole 
area  of  the  Hall,  enclosed  by  railings  enveloped  in  black,  was 
occupied  by  seats  without  backs,  as  compact  as  they  could  be 
placed.  The  aisles  and  the  spaces  under  the  galleries,  as  also 
the  area  and  the  galleries,  presented  one  dense  mass  of  human 
heads.  The  effect  was  very  imposing,  especially  when  the 
whole  audience  rose  in  prayer,  with  as  much  solemnity  and 
order  as  would  have  been  observed  in  a  church.  The  centre 
of  the  Hall  presented  a  plane  of  upturned  faces  of  men,  which 
was  extended  to  the  walls  on  either  side,  in  a  gradual  elevation 
under  the  galleries, — the  galleries,  with  a  corresponding  eleva 
tion,  being  filled  with  ladies  on  each  side,  and  the  front  occupied 
by  the  Military  in  a  solid  column.  At  the  head  of  the  Hall 
was  the  bust  of  Lafayette,  as  the  most  prominent  object,  the 
crowded  seats  on  the  elevated  platform,  and  the  choristers,  the 
female  portion  of  whom  were  dressed  in  uniform  white,  with 
black  belts  and  neck  chains. 

The  services  commenced  with  a  Dirge  from  Handel, '  Weep, 
Columbia  weep,  thy  friend  has  fallen,'  &LC.  which  was  followed 
by  a  prayer,  sublime  in  thought  and  language,  from  Rev.  Mr. 
Frothingham.  A  Requiem  followed,  written  by  Grenville 
Mellen,  and  composed  by  Lowell  Mason.  Then  followed  the 
Eulogy  by  Edward  Everett,  and  a  Hymn,  written  by  Isaac 
McLellan,  Jr.  one  of  the  Committee,  and  composed  by  G.  J. 
Webb.  The  services  were  concluded  by  a  benediction,  from 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Adams. 

Of  the  Oration  it  is  difficult  to  speak.  Say  what  we  can, 
those  who  heard  it  will  think  the  commendation  tame,  and  we 
know  not  how  to  spread  upon  paper  that  delightful  enthusiasm 
with  which  all  were  carried  away,  imperceptibly  but  complete 
ly,  as  the  Orator  began  with  an. unaffected  modesty,  that  shrunk 
from  the  task,  and  then  carried  his  audience  along  gradually 
through  anecdote,  narrative,  illustration,  history,  philosophy, 
and  the  fervor  of  patriotism,  up  to  the  most  impassioned  elo 
quence;  the  whole  chastened  and  adapted  by  a  taste  that  left 
not  a  single  rough,  inharmonious  or  unfinished  point  in  this 


103 

splendid  and  beautiful  model  of  elocution.  In  no  one  effort  do 
we  think  this  accomplished  scholar  and  orator  has  ever  been  so 
entirely  successful  as  he  was  in  his  tribute  to  the  virtues  of  the 
good  Lafayette,  both  in  diction  and  in  manner.  The  latter  had 
all  the  advantages  of  speaking  from  an  open  stage,  with  simply 
a  table  in  the  rear,  on  which  the  Orator's  notes  were  placed,  but 
to  which  he  did  not  once  recur  throughout  an  address,  that 
enchained  the  multitude  to  their  seats,  as  though  they  were  a 
part  of  them,  for  one  hour  and  forty  minutes.  He  might  have 
held  them  an  hour  longer,  for  Napoleon  never  more  completely 
commanded  a  large  body  of  men  by  the  force  of  military  disci 
pline,  than  did  Mr.  Everett  by  the  resistless  power  of  moral 
suasion.  When  he  described  the  sufferings  of  Lafayette  in  the 
Austrian  prisons,  the  devotion  of  his  heroic  wife,  the  meanness 
of  the  Emperor,  his  refusal  to  enlarge  Lafayette  on  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  Washington;  and  then  took  up  the  movements  of 
the  man  of  destiny,  Napoleon,  who  was  already  in  the  field, 
sweeping  the  Austrian  forces  before  him,  and  dictating  to 
Francis,  in  his  capital,  the  terms  of  peace,  at  the  head  of  which 
stood  the  release  of  Lafayette!  his  audience  were  completely 
carried  away  with  the  spirit  the  orator  had  poured  into  them, 
and  it  was  some  moments  before  they  could  repress  the  ardor 
of  applause.  Nor  was  it  less  when  he  contrasted  Lafayette 
with  Napoleon,  in  all  the  simplicity  of  the  former  in  his  repub 
lican  retirement  at  Lagrange,  and  the  glory  of  the  latter  at 
Marengo  and  Austerlitz. 

We  cannot  follow  the  Orator,  and  must  leave  those  who 
heard  to  cherish  the  recollection,  and  those  who  did  not,  to  read 
this  splendid  production.  But  those  who  read,  cannot  also  be 
inspired  with  the  genius  of  the  place,  and  the  grace  of  the  man 
ner  which  gave  to  mere  words  a  living  and  breathing  spirit. 


104 


REQUIEM. 

BY    GRENVILLE    MELLEN. 

BREATHE  mournful  music  round  ! 
In  cypress  wreathe  your  melancholy  lyres, 
And,  as  ye  sweep  them,  yield  the  quivering  wires 

To  sorrow's  gushing  sound  ! 

Shadow  your  brows,  and  weep  ! 
A  nation's  voice  peals  from  the  booming  sea, 
Grief's  far,  faint  requiem,  o'er  the  Great  and  Free, 

Laid  in  his  marble  sleep  ! 

He's  passed  within  the  veil ; 
And  over  him,  in  loud  and  long  lament, 
A  world's  wo  breaks  upon  the  firmament, 

In  farewell  and  in  wail. 

We  hear  an  empire's  tread ; 
A  land,  mid  shade  of  banner  and  of  plume, 
Pours,  from  one  mighty  heart,  above  the  tomb, 

Its  tribute  to  the  dead. 

One  pulse  is  echoing  there  ! — 
The  far-voiced  clarion  and  the  trump  are  still, 
And  man's  crush'd  spirit  to  the  changeless  will 

Bows  in  rebuke  and  prayer  ! 

Gather  about  his  pall, 
And  let  the  sacred  memory  of  years 
That  he  made  glorious,  call  back  your  tears, 

Or  light  them  as  they  fall ! 


HYMN. 

BY    ISAAC    MC  LELLAN,   JR. 

His  race  is  run,  his  battle's  o'er, 
He  leads  the  armies  forth  no  more, 
The  booming  gun,  the  tolling  bell, 
Have  paid  to  him  the  last  farewell ! 

He  vanished  like  the  glorious  sun 
When  his  appointed  course  is  run  : 
Yet  long  a  brilliant  track  of  light 
Marks  where  he  melted  from  the  sight. 

His  name,  as  passing  years  shall  roll, 
Shall  brighter  shine  on  glory's  scroll; 
Old  age  shall  love  to  tell  his  fame, 
And  youth  with  reverence  speak  his  name. 

That  name  shall,  like  a  beacon  star, 
From  the  dim  past,  cast  light  afar ; 
And  o'er  the  future's  rolling  tide, 
The  star  of  LAFAYETTE  shall  guide. 


BBi 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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